Allostery without a conformational change? Revisiting the paradigm

作者:Nussinov Ruth*; Tsai Chung Jung
来源:Current Opinion in Structural Biology, 2015, 30: 17-24.
DOI:10.1016/j.sbi.2014.11.005

摘要

Classically, allostery induces a functional switch through a conformational change. However, lately an increasing number of studies concluded that the allostery they observe takes place through sheer dynamics. Here we explain that even if a structural comparison between the active and inactive states does not detect a conformational change, it does not mean that there is no conformational change. We list likely reasons for this lack of observation, including crystallization conditions and crystal effects; one of the states is disordered; the structural comparisons disregard the quaternary protein structure; overlooking synergy effects among allosteric effectors and graded incremental switches and too short molecular dynamics simulations. Specific functions are performed by distinct conformations; they emerge through specific interactions between conformationally selected states.

  • 出版日期2015-2