Science News

Share   Blog   Cite

Print   Email   Bookmark

Biomolecular Modeling: Scientists Discover
'Breakwater' to Help Control Electron Transfer

ScienceDaily (June 16, 2010) — Researchers
at the University of Calgary found that amino acid residues form a type of
barrier to help in the process of electron transfer between proteins.

See Also:

Plants &
Animals

Biology

Cell Biology

Molecular Biology

Matter &
Energy

Physics

Chemistry

Nature of Water

Reference

Chlorophyll

Oxidizing
agent

Denaturation
(biochemistry)

Chemical
bond

"This raises the bar for biomolecular modeling," says Dennis Salahub, U of C
co-author of a paper published in the journal Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences (PNAS). "At a fundamental level, it is by far the most
detailed insight that has been obtained for the dynamic role of water in this
kind of electron transfer, or for that matter any biochemical reaction."

Electron transfer between proteins is the cornerstone of biological energy
transfer. Every life-form uses this process to convert food or sunlight into
chemical energy.

The interdisciplinary team of researchers found that the electron travels
over a bridge made of a water molecule, while residues on one of the proteins
form a sort of 'molecular breakwater' to keep other water molecules away while
the electron travels across the bridge.

"You don't want too many (water molecules around the bridge) because it gets
too crowded and they're all bumping into each other and you can't get one to fit
at just the right position and the right angle (for the bridge) for any length
of time," says PhD student and co-author Nathan Babcock. "It's like being on a
crowded subway where you can't get comfortable."

In artificial mutations with a faulty breakwater, the water bridge is
disrupted and the rate of electron transfer is markedly reduced, he says.

Using the CHARMM molecular simulation computer program, the research team
examined a 40 nanosecond period of electronic coupling of the proteins
methylamine dehydrogenase and amicyanin from the bacterium Paracoccus
denitrificans.

"This is fundamental research but you can imagine how studies like this can
be applied to various genetically modified organisms, and if you can gain
control over some, you can use it to either speed up or slow down a particular
reaction," says Salahub.

He says the work was made possible with the collaboration of two of the U of
C's interdisciplinary research institutes; the Institute for Biocomplexity and
Informatics (IBI) and the Institute for Quantum Information Science (IQIS).

Babcock, whose background is in quantum information theory, was pleased to do
research at the union of these two disciplines.

"When you think of quantum mechanics, usually you're thinking solid state
semi conductors, atoms trapped with lasers, etc. It's usually cold laboratory
stuff, not warm globby biological stuff," says the PhD student. "I think the
union of biology and quantum mechanics is very, very exciting."

The study was published on June 14 in the journal Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences by Nathan Babcock and Aurelien de la Lande,
now at the CNRS in France, Jan Rezac, now at the Czech Academy of Science, Barry
Sanders, iCORE Chair of Quantum Information Science at U of C and Dennis
Salahub, Director of the Institute for Biocomplexity and Informatics and
Professor in the Department of Chemistry.

Email
or share this story:

| More

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations by
ScienceDaily staff) from materials provided by University
of Calgary, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Journal Reference:

Aurélien De La Lande, Nathan S. Babcock, Jan Řezáč, Barry C. Sanders,
Dennis R. Salahub. Surface residues dynamically organize water bridges
to enhance electron transfer between proteins. Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences, 2010; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0914457107

Need to cite this story in your essay, paper,
or report? Use one of the following formats:

APA

MLA

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited
instead.

The
paper published in PNAS explores the role of water molecules (red and white) in
forming a bridge (yellow) between proteins (green and blue) and that certain
protein residues (beige) form a breakwater help the process. (Credit: Aurelien
de la Lande)

Related Stories

Modeling
The Movement Of Electrons At The Molecular Scale (Sep. 17, 2006) — Marshall Newton, a theoretical
chemist at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory will
give a talk about the theoretical techniques used to understand the factors
affecting ...  > read
more

Modeling
How Electric Charges Move (Mar. 18,
2008) — Learning how to control the movement of electrons on the
molecular and nanometer scales could help scientists devise small-scale circuits
for many applications, including more efficient ways of ...  > read
more

Hydrogen
Bonds: Scientists Find New Mechanism (Sep. 11, 2008) — Water’s unrivaled omnipresence and
the crucial role it plays in life drive scientists to understand every detail of
its unusual underlying properties on the microscopic scale. Researchers now ...
> read
more

Electrons
'Tunnel' Through Water Molecules Between Nestled Proteins (Nov. 25, 2005) — Duke University theoretical
chemists who spend much of their time calculating how the exotic rules of
quantum mechanics govern electrons motion between and through biological
molecules have garnered ...  > read
more

Mimicking
Nature, Scientists Can Now Extend Redox Potentials (Nov. 5, 2009) — New insight into how nature handles
some fundamental processes is guiding researchers in the design of tailor-made
proteins for applications such as artificial photosynthetic centers, long-range
...  > read
more

Search ScienceDaily

Number of stories in archives: 87,671

Find
with keyword(s):

Enter
a keyword or phrase to search ScienceDaily's archives for related news topics,

the latest news stories, reference articles, science videos, images, and
books.

Just In:

Quantum Gas
Produced at Zero Gravity

Hubble
Captures Bubbles and Baby Stars

Human Body
Louse Genome Sequenced

First
Plastic Antibodies in Live Organisms

Six New
Planets Discovered

Chimpanzee
Gangs Kill for Land

Brain Signs
of Schizophrenia Found in Babies

Scientists
Discover Heavenly Solar Music

Science
Video News

Cooling
Suit

Safety scientists used principles of physiology to help keep firefighters
cool in the high temperature environments they often encounter. Traditional. ...
> full
story

Engineers
Use 3D Modeling To Redesign Highway Safety Barriers

Chemist's
Glue Borrows Unique Amino Acid from Mollusk

Civil
Engineers Learn from Dutch Flood Barrier System

more science
videos

Breaking
News

... from NewsDaily.com

Large
study finds no cell phone mast link to cancer

Experts
demand European action on plastics chemical

Methane
in Gulf "astonishingly high": U.S. scientist

Now
scientists read your mind better than you can

Archaeologists
find oldest paintings of apostles

more
science news

In Other News ...

Auto
dealers win while banks lose in Wall Street bill

China
punctures yuan euphoria, gains to be glacial

Fate of
McChrystal in doubt

Alleged
drug lord Coke captured in Jamaica: police

Court blocks
Obama ban on deepwater drilling

Obama
warns health insurers not to hike rates

Hosts
South Africa and disgraced French out

U.S.
public still backs offshore drilling

more top
news

Copyright
Reuters 2008. See Restrictions.

Free Subscriptions

... from ScienceDaily

Get the latest science news with our free email newsletters, updated daily
and weekly. Or view hourly updated newsfeeds in your RSS reader:

Email
Newsletters

RSS
Newsfeeds

Feedback

... we want to hear from you!

Tell us what you think of the new ScienceDaily -- we welcome both positive
and negative comments. Have any problems using the site? Questions?

Your Name:

Your Email:

Comments:

Click button to submit feedback:

About
This Site  |  Editorial Staff  |
Awards & Reviews
|  Contribute
News  |  Advertise With Us
|  Privacy
Policy  |  Terms
of Use
Copyright
© 1995-2010 ScienceDaily LLC  —  All rights reserved  —
Contact: [email-masked]
Part of the iVillage Your Total
Health Network

Health &
Medicine

Allergy

Alternative
Medicine

Bird
Flu

Birth
Control

Breast
Cancer

Cancer

Diabetes

Diet
and Weight Loss

Diseases
and Conditions

Fitness

Gene
Therapy

Heart
Disease

HIV
and AIDS

Lung
Cancer

Men's
Health

Nutrition

Obesity

Pharmacology

Pregnancy
and Childbirth

Sexual
Health

Skin
Care

Stem
Cells

Women's
Health

... more
topics

Mind &
Brain

ADD
and ADHD

Addiction

Alzheimer's

Anxiety

Autism

Depression

Gender
Difference

Headaches

Insomnia

Intelligence

Language
Acquisition

Parkinson's

Perception

Psychology

Relationships

Schizophrenia

Social
Psychology

... more
topics

Plants &
Animals

Agriculture
and Food

Animals

Behavior

Biology

Biotechnology

Cell
Biology

Cloning

Developmental
Biology

Dogs

Dolphins
and Whales

Endangered
Animals

Extinction

Frogs
and Reptiles

Genetically
Modified

Marine
Biology

Microbes
and More

Nature

New
Species

Pests
and Parasites

Spiders

Zoology

... more
topics

Earth &
Climate

Air
Quality

Climate

Coral
Reefs

Earthquakes

Ecology

Environmental
Science

Geography

Geology

Global
Warming

Hurricanes
and Cyclones

Ice
Ages

Oceanography

Ozone
Holes

Pollution

Renewable
Energy

Tsunamis

Weather

Wildfires

... more
topics

Space &
Time

Astronomy

Astrophysics

Big
Bang

Black
Holes

Dark
Matter

ESA

Extrasolar
Planets

Mars

Moon

NASA

Pluto

Saturn

Solar
System

Space
Missions

Space
Station

Space
Telescopes

Stars

Sun

... more
topics

Matter &
Energy

Alternative
Fuels

Aviation

Biochemistry

Biometric

Chemistry

Detectors

Electronics

Energy
Technology

Forensics

Fossil
Fuels

Inorganic
Chemistry

Nanotechnology

Organic
Chemistry

Physics

Quantum
Physics

Solar
Energy

Technology

Wind
Energy

... more
topics

Computers &
Math

Artificial
Intelligence

Communications

Computer
Graphics

Computer
Modeling

Computer
Science

Encryption

Hacking

Mathematics

Quantum
Computers

Robotics

Software

Statistics

Video
Games

Virtual
Reality

... more
topics

Fossils &
Ruins

Ancient
Civilizations

Anthropology

Archaeology

Dinosaurs

Early
Climate

Early
Humans

Early
Mammals

Evolution

Human
Evolution

Lost
Treasures

Origin
of Life

Paleontology

Tyrannosaurus
Rex

... more
topics

News

Front Page

Today's Summaries

Latest
Headlines

Search Archives

Email
Newsletters

RSS Newsfeeds

News
Sections

Health &
Medicine

Mind &
Brain

Plants &
Animals

Space &
Time

Earth &
Climate

Matter &
Energy

Computers
& Math

Fossils &
Ruins

Articles

Health
& Medicine

Mind &
Brain

Plants
& Animals

Space &
Time

Earth
& Climate

Matter
& Energy

Computers
& Math

Fossils
& Ruins

Videos

Health
& Medicine

Mind &
Brain

Plants
& Animals

Space &
Time

Earth &
Climate

Matter &
Energy

Computers
& Math

Fossils
& Ruins

Images

Health
& Medicine

Mind &
Brain

Plants
& Animals

Space &
Time

Earth &
Climate

Matter
& Energy

Computers
& Math

Fossils
& Ruins

Books

Health
& Medicine

Mind &
Brain

Plants &
Animals

Space &
Time

Earth &
Climate

Matter &
Energy

Computers
& Math

Fossils &
Ruins

Post this page to your favorite social bookmarking
site:

close

del.icio.us

Digg

Furl

Netscape

Yahoo! My Web

StumbleUpon

Google Bookmarks

Technorati

BlinkList

Newsvine

ma.gnolia

reddit

Facebook

Tailrank

Slashdot

Fark

Include this item in your blog or web site:

close

Title:

Link:

Summary:

Click button to copy above
text for pasting into your site:

Cite this article in your essay, paper, or report:

close

APA style:

MLA style:

Click button to copy above
text for pasting into your document:

Email this page's link to a friend or colleague:

close

To Email:

Your Name:

Your Email:

cc to self