Human Neuronal Calcium Sensor-1 Protein Avoids Histidine Residues To Decrease pH Sensitivity.

ABSTRACT: pH is highly regulated in mammalian central nervous systems. Neuronal calcium sensor-1 (NCS-1) can interact with numerous target proteins. Compared to that in the NCS-1 protein of Caenorhabditis elegans, evolution has avoided the placement of histidine residues at positions 102 and 83 in the NCS-1 protein of humans and Xenopus laevis, possibly to decrease the conformational sensitivity to pH gradients in synaptic processes. We used all-atom molecular dynamics simulations to investigate the effects of amino acid substitutions between species on human NCS-1 by substituting Arg102 and Ser83 for histidine at neutral (R102H and S83H) and acidic pHs (R102H^p and S83H^p). Our cumulative 5 μs simulations revealed that the R102H mutation slightly increases the structural flexibi

SUBMITTER: Gong Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6413881 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature