Consequences of Hydrophobic Nanotube Binding on the Functional Dynamics of Signaling Protein Calmodulin.

ABSTRACT: The wide applications of nanomaterials in industry and our daily life have raised growing concerns on their toxicity to human body. Increasing evidence links the cytotoxicity of nanoparticles to the disruption of cellular signaling pathways. Here, we report a computational study on the mechanisms of the cytotoxicity of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) by investigating the direct impacts of CNTs on the functional motions of calmodulin (CaM), which is one of the most important signaling proteins in a cell, and its signaling function relies on the Ca²⁺ binding-coupled conformational switching. Computational simulations with a coarse-grained model showed that binding of CNTs modifies the conformational equilibrium of CaM and induces the closed-to-open conformational transition, leading to th

SUBMITTER: Zhu W 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6648716 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature