1
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Ghysbrecht S, Keller BG. Thermal isomerization rates in retinal analogues using Ab-Initio molecular dynamics. J Comput Chem 2024; 45:1390-1403. [PMID: 38414274 DOI: 10.1002/jcc.27332] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2023] [Revised: 01/31/2024] [Accepted: 02/02/2024] [Indexed: 02/29/2024]
Abstract
For a detailed understanding of chemical processes in nature and industry, we need accurate models of chemical reactions in complex environments. While Eyring transition state theory is commonly used for modeling chemical reactions, it is most accurate for small molecules in the gas phase. A wide range of alternative rate theories exist that can better capture reactions involving complex molecules and environmental effects. However, they require that the chemical reaction is sampled by molecular dynamics simulations. This is a formidable challenge since the accessible simulation timescales are many orders of magnitude smaller than typical timescales of chemical reactions. To overcome these limitations, rare event methods involving enhanced molecular dynamics sampling are employed. In this work, thermal isomerization of retinal is studied using tight-binding density functional theory. Results from transition state theory are compared to those obtained from enhanced sampling. Rates obtained from dynamical reweighting using infrequent metadynamics simulations were in close agreement with those from transition state theory. Meanwhile, rates obtained from application of Kramers' rate equation to a sampled free energy profile along a torsional dihedral reaction coordinate were found to be up to three orders of magnitude higher. This discrepancy raises concerns about applying rate methods to one-dimensional reaction coordinates in chemical reactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simon Ghysbrecht
- Department of Biology, Chemistry and Pharmacy, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Bettina G Keller
- Department of Biology, Chemistry and Pharmacy, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
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2
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Kouyama T, Ihara K. Existence of two substates in the O intermediate of the bacteriorhodopsin photocycle. BIOCHIMICA ET BIOPHYSICA ACTA. BIOMEMBRANES 2022; 1864:183998. [PMID: 35753392 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbamem.2022.183998] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2021] [Revised: 04/12/2022] [Accepted: 06/18/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
The proton pumping cycle of bacteriorhodopsin (bR) is initiated when the retinal chromophore with the 13-trans configuration is photo-isomerized into the 13-cis configuration. To understand the recovery processes of the initial retinal configuration that occur in the late stage of the photocycle, we have performed a comprehensive analysis of absorption kinetics data collected at various pH levels and at different salt concentrations. The result of analysis revealed the following features of the late stages of the trans photocycle. i) Two substates occur in the O intermediate. ii) The visible absorption band of the first substate (O1) appears at a much shorter wavelength than that of the late substate (O2). iii) O1 is in rapid equilibrium with the preceding state (N), but O1 becomes less stable than N when an ionizable residue (X1) with a pKa value of 6.5 (in 2 M KCl) is deprotonated. iv) At a low pH and at a low salt concentration, the decay time constant of O2 is longer than those of the preceding states, but the relationship between these time constants is altered when the medium pH or the salt concentration is increased. On the basis of the present observations and previous studies on the structure of the chromophore in O, we suspect that the retinal chromophore in O1 takes on a distorted 13-cis configuration and the O1-to-O2 transition is accompanied by cis-to-trans isomerization about C13C14 bond.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tsutomu Kouyama
- Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University, Nagoya 464-8602, Japan.
| | - Kunio Ihara
- Center for Gene Research, Nagoya University, Nagoya 464-8602, Japan
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3
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Kouyama T, Ihara K. Two substates in the O intermediate of the light-driven proton pump archaerhodopsin-2. BIOCHIMICA ET BIOPHYSICA ACTA. BIOMEMBRANES 2022; 1864:183919. [PMID: 35304864 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbamem.2022.183919] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2021] [Revised: 02/16/2022] [Accepted: 03/07/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
The proton pumping cycle of archaerhodopsin-2 (aR2) was investigated over a wide pH range and at different salt concentrations. We have found that two substates, which are spectroscopically and kinetically distinguishable, occur in the O intermediate. The first O-intermediate (O1) absorbs maximumly at ~580 nm, whereas the late O-intermediate (O2) absorbs maximumly at 605 nm. At neutral pH, O1 is in rapid equilibrium with the N intermediate. When the medium pH is increased, O1 becomes less stable than N and, in proportion to the amount of O1 in the dynamic equilibrium between N and O1, the formation rate of O2 decreases. By contrast, the decay rate of O2 increases ~100 folds when the pH of a low-salt membrane suspension is increased from 5.5 to 7.5 or when the salt concentration is increased to 2 M KCl. Together with our recent study on two substates in the O intermediate of bacteriorhodopsin (bR), the present study suggests that the thermally activated re-isomerization of the retinylidene chromophore into the initial all-trans configuration takes place in the O1-to-O2 transition; that is, O1 contains a distorted 13-cis chromophore. It is also found that the pKa value of the key ionizable residue (Asp101aR2, Asp96bR) in the proton uptake channel is elevated in the O1 state of aR2 as compared to the O1 state of bR. This implies that the structural property of O1 in the aR2 photocycle can be investigated over a wide pH range.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tsutomu Kouyama
- Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University, Nagoya 464-8602, Japan.
| | - Kunio Ihara
- Center for Gene Research, Nagoya University, Nagoya 464-8602, Japan
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4
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Lazaratos M, Siemers M, Brown LS, Bondar AN. Conserved hydrogen-bond motifs of membrane transporters and receptors. BIOCHIMICA ET BIOPHYSICA ACTA. BIOMEMBRANES 2022; 1864:183896. [PMID: 35217000 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbamem.2022.183896] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2021] [Revised: 02/04/2022] [Accepted: 02/16/2022] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
Abstract
Membrane transporters and receptors often rely on conserved hydrogen bonds to assemble transient paths for ion transfer or long-distance conformational couplings. For transporters and receptors that use proton binding and proton transfer for function, inter-helical hydrogen bonds of titratable protein sidechains that could change protonation are of central interest to formulate hypotheses about reaction mechanisms. Knowledge of hydrogen bonds common at sites of potential interest for proton binding could thus inform and guide studies on functional mechanisms of protonation-coupled membrane proteins. Here we apply graph-theory approaches to identify hydrogen-bond motifs of carboxylate and histidine sidechains in a large data set of static membrane protein structures. We find that carboxylate-hydroxyl hydrogen bonds are present in numerous structures of the dataset, and can be part of more extended H-bond clusters that could be relevant to conformational coupling. Carboxylate-carboxyamide and imidazole-imidazole hydrogen bonds are represented in comparably fewer protein structures of the dataset. Atomistic simulations on two membrane transporters in lipid membranes suggest that many of the hydrogen bond motifs present in static protein structures tend to be robust, and can be part of larger hydrogen-bond clusters that recruit additional hydrogen bonds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michalis Lazaratos
- Freie Universität Berlin, Department of Physics, Theoretical Molecular Biophysics, Arnimallee 14, D14195 Berlin, Germany
| | - Malte Siemers
- Freie Universität Berlin, Department of Physics, Theoretical Molecular Biophysics, Arnimallee 14, D14195 Berlin, Germany
| | - Leonid S Brown
- University of Guelph, Department of Physics, 50 Stone Road E., Guelph, Ontario N1G 2W1, Canada
| | - Ana-Nicoleta Bondar
- Freie Universität Berlin, Department of Physics, Theoretical Molecular Biophysics, Arnimallee 14, D14195 Berlin, Germany; University of Bucharest, Faculty of Physics, Atomiștilor 405, Măgurele 077125, Romania; Forschungszentrum Jülich, Institute for Neuroscience and Medicine and Institute for Advanced Simulations (IAS-5/INM-9), Computational Biomedicine, Wilhelm-Johnen Straße, 52428 Jülich, Germany.
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5
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Ryazantsev MN, Nikolaev DM, Struts AV, Brown MF. Quantum Mechanical and Molecular Mechanics Modeling of Membrane-Embedded Rhodopsins. J Membr Biol 2019; 252:425-449. [PMID: 31570961 DOI: 10.1007/s00232-019-00095-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2019] [Accepted: 09/10/2019] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
Computational chemistry provides versatile methods for studying the properties and functioning of biological systems at different levels of precision and at different time scales. The aim of this article is to review the computational methodologies that are applicable to rhodopsins as archetypes for photoactive membrane proteins that are of great importance both in nature and in modern technologies. For each class of computational techniques, from methods that use quantum mechanics for simulating rhodopsin photophysics to less-accurate coarse-grained methodologies used for long-scale protein dynamics, we consider possible applications and the main directions for improvement.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mikhail N Ryazantsev
- Institute of Chemistry, Saint Petersburg State University, 26 Universitetskii pr, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 198504
| | - Dmitrii M Nikolaev
- Saint-Petersburg Academic University - Nanotechnology Research and Education Centre RAS, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 194021
| | - Andrey V Struts
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA.,Laboratory of Biomolecular NMR, Saint Petersburg State University, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 199034
| | - Michael F Brown
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA. .,Department of Physics, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA.
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6
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Elghobashi-Meinhardt N, Phatak P, Bondar AN, Elstner M, Smith JC. Catalysis of Ground State cis[Formula: see text] trans Isomerization of Bacteriorhodopsin's Retinal Chromophore by a Hydrogen-Bond Network. J Membr Biol 2018. [PMID: 29516110 DOI: 10.1007/s00232-018-0027-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
For the photocycle of the membrane protein bacteriorhodopsin to proceed efficiently, the thermal 13-cis to all-trans back-isomerization of the retinal chromophore must return the protein to its resting state on a time-scale of milliseconds. Here, we report on quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical energy calculations examining the structural and energetic determinants of the retinal cis-trans isomerization in the protein environment. The results suggest that a hydrogen-bonded network consisting of the retinal Schiff base, active site amino acid residues, and water molecules can stabilize the twisted retinal, thus reducing the intrinsic energy cost of the cis-trans thermal isomerization barrier.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nadia Elghobashi-Meinhardt
- Department of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry, Theoretical Molecular Biophysics, Institute for Chemistry und Biochemistry, Freie Universität Berlin, Fabeckstr. 36a, Berlin, 14169, Germany.
| | - Prasad Phatak
- Institute of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry, TU Braunschweig, 38106, Braunschweig, Germany.,BASF SE, Carl-Bosch Strasse 38, 67056, Ludwigshafen am Rhein, Germany
| | - Ana-Nicoleta Bondar
- Department of Physics, Theoretical Molecular Biophysics, Freie Universität Berlin, Arnimallee 14, 14195, Berlin, Germany
| | - Marcus Elstner
- Department of Theoretical Chemical Biology, Institute for Physical Chemistry, Karlsruhe Institut of Technology, Kaiserstrasse 12, 76131, Karlsruhe, Germany
| | - Jeremy C Smith
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Center for Molecular Biophysics, P.O. Box 2008 MS6309, Oak Ridge, TN, 37831-6309, USA.,Department of Biochemistry and Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, USA
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7
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Woods KN, Pfeffer J, Klein-Seetharaman J. Chlorophyll-Derivative Modulation of Rhodopsin Signaling Properties through Evolutionarily Conserved Interaction Pathways. Front Mol Biosci 2017; 4:85. [PMID: 29312953 PMCID: PMC5733091 DOI: 10.3389/fmolb.2017.00085] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/20/2017] [Accepted: 11/28/2017] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Retinal is the light-absorbing chromophore that is responsible for the activation of visual pigments and light-driven ion pumps. Evolutionary changes in the intermolecular interactions of the retinal with specific amino acids allow for adaptation of the spectral characteristics, referred to as spectral tuning. However, it has been proposed that a specific species of dragon fish has bypassed the adaptive evolutionary process of spectral tuning and replaced it with a single evolutionary event: photosensitization of rhodopsin by chlorophyll derivatives. Here, by using a combination of experimental measurements and computational modeling to probe retinal-receptor interactions in rhodopsin, we show how the binding of the chlorophyll derivative, chlorin-e6 (Ce6) in the intracellular domain (ICD) of the receptor allosterically excites G-protein coupled receptor class A (GPCR-A) conserved long-range correlated fluctuations that connect distant parts of the receptor. These long-range correlated motions are associated with regulating the dynamics and intermolecular interactions of specific amino acids in the retinal ligand-binding pocket that have been associated with shifts in the absorbance peak maximum (λmax) and hence, spectral sensitivity of the visual system. Moreover, the binding of Ce6 affects the overall global properties of the receptor. Specifically, we find that Ce6-induced dynamics alter the thermal stability of rhodopsin by adjusting hydrogen-bonding interactions near the receptor active-site that consequently also influences the intrinsic conformational equilibrium of the receptor. Due to the conservation of the ICD residues amongst different receptors in this class and the fact that all GPCR-A receptors share a common mechanism of activation, it is possible that the allosteric associations excited in rhodopsin with Ce6 binding are a common feature in all class A GPCRs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kristina N. Woods
- Lehrstuhl für BioMolekulare Optik, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, München, Germany
- *Correspondence: Kristina N. Woods
| | - Jürgen Pfeffer
- Bavarian School of Public Policy, Technical University of Munich, München, Germany
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8
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Bondar AN, Smith JC. Protonation-state-Coupled Conformational Dynamics in Reaction Mechanisms of Channel and Pump Rhodopsins. Photochem Photobiol 2017; 93:1336-1344. [DOI: 10.1111/php.12790] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/31/2016] [Accepted: 04/20/2017] [Indexed: 01/27/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Ana-Nicoleta Bondar
- Theoretical Molecular Biophysics Group; Department of Physics; Freie Universität Berlin; Berlin Germany
| | - Jeremy C. Smith
- University of Tennessee/Oak Ridge National Laboratory Center for Molecular Biophysics; Oak Ridge TN
- Department of Biochemistry and Cellular and Molecular Biology; University of Tennessee; Knoxville TN
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9
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Kamiya M, Hayashi S. Photoactivation Intermediates of a G-Protein Coupled Receptor Rhodopsin Investigated by a Hybrid Molecular Simulation. J Phys Chem B 2017; 121:3842-3852. [PMID: 28240904 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.6b13050] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Rhodopsin is a G-protein coupled receptor functioning as a photoreceptor for vision through photoactivation of a covalently bound ligand of a retinal protonated Schiff base chromophore. Despite the availability of structural information on the inactivated and activated forms of the receptor, the transition processes initiated by the photoabsorption have not been well understood. Here we theoretically examined the photoactivation processes by means of molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and ab initio quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical (QM/MM) free energy geometry optimizations which enabled accurate geometry determination of the ligand molecule in ample statistical conformational samples of the protein. Structures of the intermediate states of the activation process, blue-shifted intermediate and Lumi, as well as the dark state first generated by MD simulations and then refined by the QM/MM free energy geometry optimizations were characterized by large displacement of the β-ionone ring of retinal along with change in the hydrogen bond of the protonated Schiff base. The ab initio calculations of vibrational and electronic spectroscopic properties of those states well reproduced the experimental observations and successfully identified the molecular origins underlying the spectroscopic features. The structural evolution in the formation of the intermediates provides a molecular insight into the efficient activation processes of the receptor.
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Affiliation(s)
- Motoshi Kamiya
- Department of Chemistry, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University , Kyoto 606-8502, Japan
| | - Shigehiko Hayashi
- Department of Chemistry, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University , Kyoto 606-8502, Japan
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10
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Bruno M, Vermathen M, Alder A, Wüst F, Schaub P, van der Steen R, Beyer P, Ghisla S, Al-Babili S. Insights into the formation of carlactone from in-depth analysis of the CCD8-catalyzed reactions. FEBS Lett 2017; 591:792-800. [PMID: 28186640 DOI: 10.1002/1873-3468.12593] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2016] [Accepted: 02/06/2017] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Strigolactones are a new class of phytohormones synthesized from carotenoids via carlactone. The complex structure of carlactone is not easily deducible from its precursor, a cis-configured β-carotene cleavage product, and is thus formed via a poorly understood series of reactions and molecular rearrangements, all catalyzed by only one enzyme, the carotenoid cleavage dioxygenase 8 (CCD8). Moreover, the reactions leading to carlactone are expected to form a second, yet unidentified product. In this study, we used 13 C and 18 O-labeling to shed light on the reactions catalyzed by CCD8. The characterization of the resulting carlactone by LC-MS and NMR, and the identification of the assumed, less accessible second product allowed us to formulate a minimal reaction mechanism for carlactone generation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark Bruno
- Faculty of Biology, University of Freiburg, Germany
| | - Martina Vermathen
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Bern, Switzerland
| | - Adrian Alder
- Faculty of Biology, University of Freiburg, Germany
| | - Florian Wüst
- Faculty of Biology, University of Freiburg, Germany
| | | | | | - Peter Beyer
- Faculty of Biology, University of Freiburg, Germany
| | - Sandro Ghisla
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Germany
| | - Salim Al-Babili
- Faculty of Biology, University of Freiburg, Germany
- BESE Division, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Saudi Arabia
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11
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Ge X, Gunner MR. Unraveling the mechanism of proton translocation in the extracellular half-channel of bacteriorhodopsin. Proteins 2016; 84:639-54. [DOI: 10.1002/prot.25013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2015] [Revised: 01/24/2016] [Accepted: 02/04/2016] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Xiaoxia Ge
- Physics Department; City College of New York; New York NY 10031
| | - M. R. Gunner
- Physics Department; City College of New York; New York NY 10031
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12
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Guerra F, Adam S, Bondar AN. Revised force-field parameters for chlorophyll-a, pheophytin-a and plastoquinone-9. J Mol Graph Model 2015; 58:30-9. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jmgm.2015.03.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2014] [Revised: 03/02/2015] [Accepted: 03/03/2015] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
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13
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Wolter T, Elstner M, Fischer S, Smith JC, Bondar AN. Mechanism by which Untwisting of Retinal Leads to Productive Bacteriorhodopsin Photocycle States. J Phys Chem B 2014; 119:2229-40. [DOI: 10.1021/jp505818r] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Tino Wolter
- Institute of Physical
Chemistry, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Kaiserstrasse 12, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany
| | - Marcus Elstner
- Institute of Physical
Chemistry, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Kaiserstrasse 12, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany
| | - Stefan Fischer
- IWR, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 368, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Jeremy C. Smith
- Center for
Molecular
Biophysics, University of Tenessee, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, PO BOX 2008 MS6164, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831-6164, United States
| | - Ana-Nicoleta Bondar
- Theoretical
Molecular Biophysics, Department of Physics, Freie Universitaet Berlin, Arnimallee 14, D-14195 Berlin, Germany
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14
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Coupling between inter-helical hydrogen bonding and water dynamics in a proton transporter. J Struct Biol 2014; 186:95-111. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jsb.2014.02.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2013] [Revised: 02/13/2014] [Accepted: 02/15/2014] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
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