Comparative void-volume analysis of psychrophilic and mesophilic enzymes: Structural bioinformatics of psychrophilic enzymes reveals sources of core flexibility.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Psychrophiles, cold-adapted organisms, have adapted to live at low temperatures by using a variety of mechanisms. Their enzymes are active at cold temperatures by being structurally more flexible than mesophilic enzymes. Even though, there are some indications of the possible structural mechanisms by which psychrophilic enzymes are catalytic active at cold temperatures, there is not a generalized structural property common to all psychrophilic enzymes.

Results

We examine twenty homologous enzyme pairs from psychrophiles and mesophiles to investigate flexibility as a key characteristic for cold adaptation. B-factors in protein X-ray structures are one way to measure flexibility. Comparing psychrophilic to mesophilic protein B-factors reveals that psychrophilic enzy

SUBMITTER: Paredes DI 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3224250 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature