Nanoconfined water in a channel-like protein
DIPC Seminars
- Speaker
-
Sara Capponi. Cardiovascular Research Institute, University of California in San Francisco, San Francisco, USA
- When
-
2016/05/17
13:00 - Place
- Donostia International Physics Center. Pº Manuel Lardizabal 4, Donostia - San Sebastián
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Biomolecules are characterized by a very complex topography, which affects the
organization of water molecules located close to their surface. Here I present
a study on water confined in the SecY membrane protein, which constitutes the
core of the SecYEG translocon complex. SecY is a membrane pore that mediates
the insertion of proteins into cellular membranes. The insertion process has
been explained experimentally in terms of the hydrophobic effect: the
partitioning of a hydrophobic protein segment between the water-filled SecY
interior and the membrane would resemble that between bulk water and membrane.
theless, these partitioning processes exhibit strong differences, which
might be due to the state of water inside SecY. By means of full-atom
molecular dynamics simulations, I show that water motion is highly restricted
within the SecY channel and water dipoles are aligned to the pore axis [1].
This might have implications for the SecY biological functions. Moreover,
water confined into the SecY pore shares similarities with supercooled bulk
water.
[1] S. Capponi _et al._ , Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 112 (29), 9016-9021
(2015).