Salt-bridge formation between Asp/Glu···Lys and Asp/Glu···Arg side chains has been studied by model systems including formic and acetic acids as proton donors and methylamine, guanidine, and methylguanidine as proton acceptors. Calculations have been performed up to the CCSD(T)(CBS)//MP2/aug-cc-pvtz level with formic acid proton donors. Complexes formed with acetic acid were studied at the CCSD(T)/aug-cc-pvdz//MP2/aug-cc-pvdz level. Protein environments of low and moderate polarity were mimicked by a continuum solvent with dielectric constants (ε) set to 5 and 15, respectively. Free energy differences, ΔG(tot), were calculated for the neutral, hydrogen-bonded form and for the tautomeric ion pair. These values predict that a salt bridge is not favored for the Asp/Glu···Lys pair, even in an environment with ε as large as 15. In contrast, the Asp/Glu···Arg salt bridge is feasible even in an environment with ε = 5. Charge transfers for the complexes were calculated on the basis of CHELPG and AIM charges.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/jp103313s | DOI Listing |
Int J Mol Sci
January 2025
Almazov National Medical Research Centre, 197341 St. Petersburg, Russia.
Several mutations of the uppermost arginine, R219, in the voltage-sensing sliding helix S4 of cardiac sodium channel Nav1.5 are reported in the ClinVar databases, but the clinical significance of the respective variants is unknown (VUSs). AlphaFold 3 models predicted a significant downshift of S4 in the R219C VUS.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Gen Physiol
March 2025
Department of Biomolecular Sciences, School of Pharmacy, University of Mississippi, Oxford, MS, USA.
Voltage-gated sodium (Nav) channels are pivotal for cellular signaling, and mutations in Nav channels can lead to excitability disorders in cardiac, muscular, and neural tissues. A major cluster of pathological mutations localizes in the voltage-sensing domains (VSDs), resulting in either gain-of-function, loss-of-function effects, or both. However, the mechanism behind this functional diversity of mutations at equivalent positions remains elusive.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBMJ Open Ophthalmol
January 2025
Eye Institute and Department of Ophthalmology, Eye & ENT Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
Objective: We compared the protein structure and pathogenicity of clinically relevant variants of the gene with AlphaFold2 (AF2), Alpha Missense (AM), and ThermoMPNN for the first time.
Methods And Analysis: The sequences of clinically relevant Cog4 missense variants (one novel identified p.Y714F and three pre-existing p.
Biochim Biophys Acta Biomembr
January 2025
Land and Food Systems, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada; Faculty of Agricultural, Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada. Electronic address:
The Solanum tuberosum (common potato) plant specific insert (StPSI) is an antimicrobial protein domain that exhibits membrane-disrupting and membrane-fusing activity upon dimerization at acidic pH, activity proposed to involve electrostatic attraction and membrane anchoring mediated by specific positively-charged and conserved tryptophan residues, respectively. This study is the first to employ an in silico mutagenesis approach to clarify the structure-function relationship of a plant specific insert (PSI), where ten rationally-mutated StPSI variants were investigated using all-atom and coarse-grained molecular dynamics. The tryptophan (W) residue at position 18 (W18) of wild-type StPSI was predicted to confer structural flexibility to the dimer and mediate a partial separation of the assembled monomers upon bilayer contact, while residues including W77 and the lysine (K) residue at position 83 (K83) were predicted to stabilize secondary structure and influence association with the model membrane.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Mol Sci
December 2024
Department of Biosciences, Biotechnology and Environment, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Via E. Orabona 4, 70125 Bari, Italy.
Mitochondrial carriers transport organic acids, amino acids, nucleotides and cofactors across the mitochondrial inner membrane. These transporters consist of a three-fold symmetric bundle of six transmembrane α-helices that encircle a pore with a central substrate binding site, whose alternating access is controlled by a cytoplasmic and a matrix gate (C- and M-gates). The C- and M-gates close by forming two different salt-bridge networks involving the conserved motifs [YF][DE]XX[KR] on the even-numbered and PX[DE]XX[KR] on the odd-numbered transmembrane α-helices, respectively.
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