Fold versus sequence effects on the driving force for protein-mediated electron transfer.

ABSTRACT: Electron transport chains composed of electron transfer reactions mainly between proteins provide fast efficient flow of energy in a variety of metabolic pathways. Reduction potentials are essential characteristics of the proteins because they determine the driving forces for the electron transfers. As both polar and charged groups from the backbone and side chains define the electrostatic environment, both the fold and the sequence will contribute. However, although the role of a specific sequence may be determined by experimental mutagenesis studies of reduction potentials, understanding the role of the fold by experiment is much more difficult. Here, continuum electrostatics and density functional theory calculations are used to analyze reduction potentials in [4Fe-4S] proteins. A key f

SUBMITTER: Perrin BS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2927784 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature