Unveiling the gating mechanism of ECF transporter RibU.

ABSTRACT: Energy-coupling factor (ECF) transporters are responsible for uptake of micronutrients in prokaryotes. The recently reported crystal structure of an ECF transporter RibU provided a foundation for understanding the structure and transport mechanism of ECF transporters. In the present study, molecular dynamics (MD) was carried out to study the conformational changes of the S component RibU upon binding by riboflavin. Our result and analysis revealed a critically important gating mechanism, in which part of loop5 (L5') (eleven residues, missing in the crystal structure) between TM5 and TM6 is dynamically flexible and serves as a gate. Specifically, the L5' opens a large cavity accessible to riboflavin from the extracellular space in Apo-RibU and closes the cavity upon riboflavin binding throu

SUBMITTER: Song J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3868957 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature