Analysis of the strength of interfacial hydrogen bonds between tubulin dimers using quantum theory of atoms in molecules.

ABSTRACT: Microtubules are key structural elements that, among numerous biological functions, maintain the cytoskeleton of the cell and have a major role in cell division, which makes them important cancer chemotherapy targets. Understanding the energy balance that brings tubulin dimers, the building blocks of microtubules, together to form a microtubule is especially important for revealing the mechanism of their dynamic instability. Several studies have been conducted to estimate various contributions to the free energy of microtubule formation. However, the hydrogen-bond contribution was not studied before as a separate component. In this work, we use concepts such as the quantum theory of atoms in molecules to estimate the per-residue strength of hydrogen bonds contributing to the overall stabil

SUBMITTER: Ayoub AT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4129478 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature