Deconstructing thermodynamic parameters of a coupled system from site-specific observables.

ABSTRACT: Cooperative interactions mediate information transfer between structural domains of a protein molecule and are major determinants of protein function and modulation. The prevalent theories to understand the thermodynamic origins of cooperativity have been developed to reproduce the complex behavior of a global thermodynamic observable such as ligand binding or enzyme activity. However, in most cases the measurement of a single global observable cannot uniquely define all the terms that fully describe the energetics of the system. Here we establish a theoretical groundwork for analyzing protein thermodynamics using site-specific information. Our treatment involves extracting a site-specific parameter (defined as χ value) associated with a structural unit. We demonstrate that, under limiting

SUBMITTER: Chowdhury S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2973918 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature