Interpretation of Single-Molecule Force Experiments on Proteins Using Normal Mode Analysis.

ABSTRACT: Single-molecule force spectroscopy experiments allow protein folding and unfolding to be explored using mechanical force. Probably the most informative technique for interpreting the results of these experiments at the structural level makes use of steered molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, which can explicitly model the protein under load. Unfortunately, this technique is computationally expensive for many of the most interesting biological molecules. Here, we find that normal mode analysis (NMA), a significantly cheaper technique from a computational perspective, allows at least some of the insights provided by MD simulation to be gathered. We apply this technique to three non-homologous proteins that were previously studied by force spectroscopy: T4 lysozyme (T4L), Hsp70 and the gluco

SUBMITTER: Bauer J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8624234 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature