The influence of binding of the orthosteric ligands on the conformational dynamics of the beta-2-adrenoreceptor was identified using the molecular dynamics method. It was found that there was alittle fraction of the active states of the receptor in its apo (ligand free) ensemble. Analysis of the MD trajectories indicated that such spontaneous activation of the receptor is accompanied by the motion of its VI helix. Thus receptor's constitutive activity is the direct result of its conformational dynamics. On other hand binding of the full agonist resulted in the significant shift of the initial equilibrium towards its active state. Finally binding of the inverse agonist stabilized receptor in its inactive state. Its likely that the binding of the inverse agonists might be the universal way of the constitutive activity inhibition. Our results indicate that ligand binding rather redistribute prexisting conformational degrees of freedom (in accordance to the Monod-Wyman-Changeux-Model) than cause induced fit in it. Therefore ensemble of the biological-relevant receptor conformations have been encoded in its spatial structure and individual conformations from that ensemble might be used by the cell according to the physiological behavior.
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Nat Commun
January 2025
Department of Chemistry, Theoretical Chemistry Institute, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53706, USA.
Identifying transitional states is crucial for understanding protein conformational changes that underlie numerous biological processes. Markov state models (MSMs), built from Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations, capture these dynamics through transitions among metastable conformational states, and have demonstrated success in studying protein conformational changes. However, MSMs face challenges in identifying transition states, as they partition MD conformations into discrete metastable states (or free energy minima), lacking description of transition states located at the free energy barriers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCell
December 2024
Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA; Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, San Francisco, CA 94148, USA; Quantitative Biosciences Institute, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA; Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Care, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94115, USA. Electronic address:
Three proton-sensing G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs)-GPR4, GPR65, and GPR68-respond to extracellular pH to regulate diverse physiology. How protons activate these receptors is poorly understood. We determined cryogenic-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) structures of each receptor to understand the spatial arrangement of proton-sensing residues.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFComput Biol Chem
December 2024
Faculty of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, University of Oulu, PO Box 5400, Oulu 90014, Finland; Biocenter Oulu, University of Oulu, PO Box 5400, Oulu 90014, Finland. Electronic address:
Single-stranded breaks (SSBs) are the most frequent DNA lesions threatening genomic integrity-understanding how DNA sensor proteins recognize certain SSB types is crucial for studies of the DNA repair pathways. During repair of damaged DNA the final SSB that is to be ligated contains a 5'-phosphorylated end. The present work employed molecular simulation (MD) of DNA with a phosphorylated break in solution to address multiple questions regarding the dynamics of the break site.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiophys Chem
December 2024
Theoretical Molecular Science Laboratory, RIKEN Cluster for Pioneering Research, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan; Computational Biophysics Research Group, RIKEN Center for Computational Science, 7-1-26 Minatojima-Minamimachi, Chuo-ku, Kobe, Hyogo 650-0047, Japan; Laboratory for Biomolecular Function Simulation, RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research, 1-6-5 Minatojima-Minamimachi, Chuo-ku, Kobe, Hyogo 650-0047, Japan.
Membrane potential is essential in biological signaling and homeostasis maintained by voltage-sensitive membrane proteins. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations incorporating membrane potentials have been extensively used to study the structures and functions of ion channels and protein pores. They can also be beneficial in designing and characterizing artificial ion channels and pores, which will guide further amino acid sequence optimization through comparison between the predicted models and experimental data.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Phys Chem A
January 2025
Computer Modelling Group, 3710 33 St NW, Calgary, Alberta T2L 2M1, Canada.
Coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulation is widely accepted for assessment of a large complex biological system, but it may also lead to a misleading conclusion. The challenge is to simulate protein structural dynamics (such as folding-unfolding behavior) due to the lack of a necessary backbone flexibility. This study developed a standard coarse-grained model directly from the protein atomic structure and amino acid coarse-grained FF (such as MARTINI FF v2.
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