Atomic Motions in Proteins Play a Major Role in Impacting Bacterial Functioning
This research study demonstrate views about the evolution of new functions in organisms, which regarded a protein’s shape, or “structure,” as the most important factor in controlling its activity.
“This study gives us a significant answer to the following question: How do different organisms evolve different functions with proteins whose structures all look essentially the same?” “Scientist found evidence that atomic motions in proteins play a major role in impacting bacterial functioning.”
The study also provides new insights into how microorganisms respond to their host’s defense system against pathogenic microorganisms. Serious bacterial infections in people include severe health-care-associated infections and tuberculosis, both of which have grown increasingly common over the past decade due to rising drug resistance in bacteria. Scientist found evidence that atomic motions in proteins play a major role in impacting bacterial functioning.”
They demonstrated atomic-level motional disorder or entropy — can impact gene transcription to affect the function of proteins in major ways, and that these motions can be ‘tuned’ evolutionarily,” “This may allow bacteria to rapidly evolve new ways to overcome medical treatment since atomic motions can be optimized for function more easily than a physical structure.” so it can be said that, atomic motions in proteins play a major role in impacting bacterial functioning
It also assumes proteins are rigid. The new study shows protein function is better understood by studying the structure’s internal atomic motion. atomic motions in proteins play a major role in impacting bacterial functioning
“This work is the clearest example thus far of the central and critical role that conformational entropy plays in protein regulation.”.
Specifically, researchers analyzed a protein called CzrA that controls how bacteria regulate zinc levels, an important ability that provides microorganisms the power to resist the human immune system. Zinc regulation allows the body to fight off infection by either flooding invaders with zinc, causing cellular death or completely starving them of the element, which also kills infectious agents.atomic motions in proteins play a major role in impacting bacterial functioning.”
Atomic motions in proteins play a major role in impacting their functioning
“CzrA controls a biological mechanism in bacteria called the ‘zinc pump,’ which pushes extra zinc out of bacterial cells in response to the immune system’s attempts to poison them with the metal,”
Through the use of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, researcher measured the movement of atoms in CzrA and identified those most affected by zinc. They then “swapped” these atoms out with different amino acids and found that the protein almost completely lost the ability to regulate zinc levels in cells. The experiment revealed unexpected areas on the molecule that appeared to play a role a role in zinc regulation, despite their physically distant location on the protein “map.”atomic motions in proteins play a major role in impacting bacterial functioning
“There’s no way anyone could have predicted these areas played a role in zinc regulation by simply looking at the protein structure,”. “Once you know where these ‘hot spots’ are located, however, it’s theoretically possible to design a small molecule or drug to produce the same effect as our amino acid-swapping experiment — that is, to essentially shut off the protein.”atomic motions in proteins play a major role in impacting bacterial functioning
In fact, this is one of the main concepts behind a powerful new class of drugs called “allosteric drugs,” so named because they’re designed to affect areas on a protein — called allosteric sites — that enhance or regulate the primary function of the protein, such as zinc binding, without directly targeting the part of the protein that controls the primary function.
atomic motions in proteins play a major role in impacting bacterial functioning.