A systems-biology approach to molecular machines: Exploration of alternative transporter mechanisms.

ABSTRACT: Motivated by growing evidence for pathway heterogeneity and alternative functions of molecular machines, we demonstrate a computational approach for investigating two questions: (1) Are there multiple mechanisms (state-space pathways) by which a machine can perform a given function, such as cotransport across a membrane? (2) How can additional functionality, such as proofreading/error-correction, be built into machine function using standard biochemical processes? Answers to these questions will aid both the understanding of molecular-scale cell biology and the design of synthetic machines. Focusing on transport in this initial study, we sample a variety of mechanisms by employing Metropolis Markov chain Monte Carlo. Trial moves adjust transition rates among an automatically generated set

SUBMITTER: George A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7331975 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature