This book discusses how biological molecules exert their function and regulate biological processes, with a clear focus on how conformational dynamics of proteins are critical in this respect. In the last decade, the advancements in computational biology, nuclear magnetic resonance including paramagnetic relaxation enhancement, and fluorescence-based ensemble/single-molecule techniques have shown that biological molecules (proteins, DNAs and RNAs) fluctuate under equilibrium conditions. The conformational and energetic spaces that these fluctuations explore likely contain active conformations that are critical for their function. More interestingly, these fluctuations can respond actively to external cues, which introduces layers of tight regulation on the biological processes that they dictate. A growing number of studies have suggested that conformational dynamics of proteins govern their role in regulating biological functions, examples of this regulation can be found in signal transduction, molecular recognition, apoptosis, protein / ion / other molecules translocation and gene expression. On the experimental side, the technical advances have offered deep insights into the conformational motions of a number of proteins. These studies greatly enrich our knowledge of the interplay between structure and function. On the theoretical side, novel approaches and detailed computational simulations have provided powerful tools in the study of enzyme catalysis, protein / drug design, protein / ion / other molecule translocation and protein folding/aggregation, to name but a few. This work contains detailed information, not only on the conformational motions of biological systems, but also on the potential governing forces of conformational dynamics (transient interactions, chemical and physical origins, thermodynamic properties). New developments in computational simulations will greatly enhance our understanding of how these molecules function in various biological events.

In Protein Dynamics: Methods and Protocols, expert researchers in the field detail both experimental and computational methods to interrogate molecular level fluctuations. Chapters detail best-practice recipes covering both experimental and computational techniques, reflecting modern protein research. Written in the highly successful Methods in Molecular BiologyTM series format, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible laboratory protocols, and key tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Authoritative and practical, Protein Dynamics: Methods and Protocols describes the most common and powerful methods used to characterize protein dynamics.

Approx.400 pagesApprox.400 pages

This volume is a collection of articles from the proceedings of the International School of Structural Biology and Magnetic Resonance 3rd Course: Protein Dynamics, Function, and Design. This NATO Advance Study Institute was held in Erice at the Ettore Majorana Centre for Scientific Culture on April 16-28, 1997. The aim of the Institute was to bring together experts applyipg different physical methods to problems of macro molecular dynamics-notably x-ray diffraction, NMR and other forms of spectroscopy, and molecular dynamics simulations. Emphasis was placed on those systems and types of problems-such as mechanisms of allosteric control, signal transmission, induced fit to different ligands with its implications for drug design, and the effects of dynamics on structure determination-where a correlation of findings obtained by different methods could shed the most light on the mechanisms involved and stimulate the search for new approaches. The individual articles represent the state of the art in each of the areas cov ered and provide a guide to the original literature in this rapidly developing field. v CONTENTS 1. Determining Structures of ProteinlDN A Complexes by NMR Angela M. Gronenbom and G. Marius Clore 2. Fitting Protein Structures to Experimental Data: Lessons from before Your Mother Was Born . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Jeffrey C. Hoch, Alan S. Stem, and Peter J. Connolly 3. Multisubunit Allosteric Proteins. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 William N. Lipscomb 4. Studying Protein Structure and Function by Directed Evolution: Examples with Engineered Antibodies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Andreas Pliickthun 5. High Pressure Effects on Protein Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The Latest Developments on the Role of Dynamics in Protein FunctionsComputational Approaches to Protein Dynamics: From Quantum to Coarse-Grained Methods presents modern biomolecular computational techniques that address protein flexibility/dynamics at all levels of theory. An international contingent of leading researchers in chemistry, physics, an

Presenting a wide-ranging view of current developments in protein research, the papers in this collection, each written by highly regarded experts in the field, examine various aspects of protein structure, functions, dynamics, and experimentation. Topics include dynamical simulation methods, the biological role of atom fluctuations, protein folding, influences on protein dynamics, and a variety of analytical techniques, such as X-ray diffraction, vibrational spectroscopy, photodissociation and rebinding kinetics. This is part of a series devoted to providing general information on a wide variety of topics in chemical physics in order to stimulate new research and to serve as a text for beginners in a particular area of chemical physics.

This book discusses a broad range of basic and advanced topics in the field of protein structure, function, folding, flexibility, and dynamics. Starting with a basic introduction to protein purification, estimation, storage, and its effect on the protein structure, function, and dynamics, it also discusses various experimental and computational structure determination approaches; the importance of molecular interactions and water in protein stability, folding and dynamics; kinetic and thermodynamic parameters associated with protein-ligand binding; single molecule techniques and their applications in studying protein folding and aggregation; protein quality control; the role of amino acid sequence in protein aggregation; muscarinic acetylcholine receptors, antimuscarinic drugs, and their clinical significances. Further, the book explains the current understanding on the therapeutic importance of the enzyme dopamine beta hydroxylase; structural dynamics and motions in molecular motors; role of cathepsins in controlling degradation of extracellular matrix during disease states; and the important structure-function relationship of iron-binding proteins, ferritins. Overall, the book is an important guide and a comprehensive resource for understanding protein structure, function, dynamics, and interaction.

Proteins lie at the heart of almost all biological processes and have an incredibly wide range of activities. Central to the function of all proteins is their ability to adopt, stably or sometimes transiently, structures that allow for interaction with other molecules. An understanding of the structure of a protein can therefore lead us to a much improved picture of its molecular function. This realisation has been a prime motivation of recent Structural Genomics projects, involving large-scale experimental determination of protein structures, often those of proteins about which little is known of function. These initiatives have, in turn, stimulated the massive development of novel methods for prediction of protein function from structure. Since model structures may also take advantage of new function prediction algorithms, the first part of the book deals with the various ways in which protein structures may be predicted or inferred, including specific treatment of membrane and intrinsically disordered proteins. A detailed consideration of current structure-based function prediction methodologies forms the second part of this book, which concludes with two chapters, focusing specifically on case studies, designed to illustrate the real-world application of these methods. With bang up-to-date texts from world experts, and abundant links to publicly available resources, this book will be invaluable to anyone who studies proteins and the endlessly fascinating relationship between their structure and function.