Deprotonation of d96 in bacteriorhodopsin opens the proton uptake pathway.
Wang, T., Sessions, A.O., Lunde, C.S., Rouhani, S., Glaeser, R.M., Duan, Y., Facciotti, M.T.(2013) Structure 21: 290-297
- PubMed: 23394942 
- DOI: 10.1016/j.str.2012.12.018
- Primary Citation of Related Structures:  
4FPD - PubMed Abstract: 
Despite extensive investigation, the precise mechanism controlling the opening of the cytoplasmic proton uptake pathway in bacteriorhodopsin (bR) has remained a mystery. From an analysis of the X-ray structure of the D96G/F171C/F219L triple mutant of bR and 60 independent molecular dynamics simulations of bR photointermediates, we report that the deprotonation of D96, a key residue in proton transfer reactions, serves two roles that occur sequentially ...