Localization properties of residue fluctuations in globular proteins are studied theoretically by using the Gaussian network model. Participation ratio for each residue fluctuation mode is calculated. It is found that the relationship between participation ratio and frequency is similar for all globular proteins, indicating a universal behavior in spite of their different size, shape, and architecture.
It is shown that the density of modes of the vibrational spectrum of globular proteins is universal, i.e., regardless of the protein in question it closely follows one universal curve. The present study, including 135 proteins analyzed with a full atomic empirical potential (CHARMM22) and using the full complement of all atoms Cartesian degrees of freedom, goes far beyond previous claims of universality, confirming that universality holds even in the high-frequency range (300- 4000 1/cm), where peaks and turns in the density of states are faithfully reproduced from one protein to the next. We also characterize fluctuations of the spectral density from the average, paving the way to a meaningful discussion of rare, unusual spectra and the structural reasons for the deviations in such outlier proteins. Since the method used for the derivation of the vibrational modes (potential energy formulation, set of degrees of freedom employed, etc.) has a dramatic effect on the spectral density, another significant implication of our findings is that the universality can provide an exquisite tool for assessing and improving the quality of various models used for NMA computations. Finally, we show that the input configuration too affects the density of modes, thus emphasizing the importance of simplified potential energy formulations that are minimized at the outset.
Using a coarse-grained model, self-organized assembly of proteins (e.g. CorA and its inner segment iCorA) is studied by examining quantities such as contact profile, radius of gyration, and structure factor as a function of protein concentration at a range of low (native phase) to high (denature phase) temperatures. Visual inspections show distinct structures, i.e. isolated globular bundles to entangled network on multiple length scales in dilute to crowded protein concentrations. In native phase, the radius of gyration of the protein does not vary much with the protein concentration while that of its inner segment increases systematically. In contrast, the radius of gyration of the protein shows enormous growth with the concentration due to entanglement while that of the inner segment remains almost constant in denatured phase. The multi-scale morphology of the collective assembly is quantified by estimating the effective dimension D of protein from scaling of the structure factor: collective assembly from inner segments remains globular (D aroud 3) at almost all length scales in its native phase while that from protein chains shows sparsely distributed morphology with D around 2 in entire temperature range due to entanglement except in crowded environment at low temperature where D around 2.6. Higher morphological response of chains with only the inner-segments due to selective interactions in its native phase may be more conducive to self-organizing mechanism than that of the remaining segments of the protein chains.
We use coarse grained molecular dynamics simulations to investigate diffusion properties of sheared lipid membranes with embedded transmembrane proteins. In membranes without proteins, we find normal in-plane diffusion of lipids in all flow conditions. Protein embedded membranes behave quite differently: by imposing a simple shear flow and sliding the monolayers of the membrane over each other, the motion of protein clusters becomes strongly superdiffusive in the shear direction. In such a circumstance, subdiffusion regime is predominant perpendicular to the flow. We show that superdiffusion is a result of accelerated chaotic motions of protein--lipid complexes within the membrane voids, which are generated by hydrophobic mismatch or the transport of lipids by proteins.
The diffusion-controlled limit of reaction times for site-specific DNA-binding proteins is derived from first principles. We follow the generally accepted concept that a protein propagates via two competitive modes, a three-dimensional diffusion in space and a one-dimensional sliding along the DNA. However, our theoretical treatment of the problem is new. The accuracy of our analytical model is verified by numerical simulations. The results confirm that the unspecific binding of protein to DNA, combined with sliding, is capable to reduce the reaction times significantly.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a non-invasive and label-free technique widely used in medical diagnosis and life science research, and its success has benefited greatly from continuing efforts on enhancing contrast and resolution. Here we reported nanoscale MRI in a single cell using an atomic-size quantum sensor. With nitrogen-vacancy center in diamond, the intracellular protein ferritin has been imaged with a spatial resolution of ~ 10 nanometers, and ferritin-containing organelles were co-localized by correlative MRI and electron microscopy. Comparing to the current micrometer resolution in current state-of-art conventional MRI, our approach represents a 100-fold enhancement, and paves the way for MRI of intracellular proteins.