Primary Citation of Related Structures: 3WH0, 3WHM, 3WUR
PubMed Abstract:
Crown ethers are small, cyclic polyethers that have found wide-spread use in phase-transfer catalysis and, to a certain degree, in protein chemistry. Crown ethers readily bind metallic and organic cations, including positively charged amino acid side chains ...
Crown ethers are small, cyclic polyethers that have found wide-spread use in phase-transfer catalysis and, to a certain degree, in protein chemistry. Crown ethers readily bind metallic and organic cations, including positively charged amino acid side chains. We elucidated the crystal structures of several protein-crown ether co-crystals grown in the presence of 18-crown-6. We then employed biophysical methods and molecular dynamics simulations to compare these complexes with the corresponding apoproteins and with similar complexes with ring-shaped low-molecular-weight polyethylene glycols. Our studies show that crown ethers can modify protein surface behavior dramatically by stabilizing either intra- or intermolecular interactions. Consequently, we propose that crown ethers can be used to modulate a wide variety of protein surface behaviors, such as oligomerization, domain-domain interactions, stabilization in organic solvents, and crystallization.
Organizational Affiliation:
Institute of Biological Chemistry, Academia Sinica, 128 Academia Road, Section 2, Nankang, Taipei 11529 (Taiwan); Core Facilities for Protein Structural Analysis, Academia Sinica, 128 Academia Road, Section 2, Nankang, Taipei 11529 (Taiwan).
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