Electrostatics of aquaporin and aquaglyceroporin channels correlates with their transport selectivity.

ABSTRACT: Aquaporins are homotetrameric channel proteins, which allow the diffusion of water and small solutes across biological membranes. According to their transport function, aquaporins can be divided into "orthodox aquaporins", which allow the flux of water molecules only, and "aquaglyceroporins", which facilitate the diffusion of glycerol and other small solutes in addition to water. The contribution of individual residues in the pore to the selectivity of orthodox aquaporins and aquaglyceroporins is not yet fully understood. To gain insights into aquaporin selectivity, we focused on the sequence variation and electrostatics of their channels. The continuum Poisson-Boltzmann electrostatic potential along the channel was calculated and compared for ten three-dimensional-structures which are rep

SUBMITTER: Oliva R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2819975 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature