title: Muscle fatty acid-binding protein.
abstract: Muscle or heart fatty acid-binding protein is a low molecular weight protein that binds long-chain fatty acids in the cytosol of muscle tissues. The three-dimensional structure of the human, bovine and insect proteins are known, either via X-ray or NMR techniques. The folding of the protein closely resembles that of the other FABPs: ten anti-parallel beta-strands are arranged to form a clam shell, closed at one end by two alpha-helices. This arrangement allows the formation of an internal cavity where the fatty acid can be accommodated, protected and isolated from the external environment. The fatty acid in the protein interior is stabilized by electrostatic and hydrogen bond interactions of its carboxylic head with charged or polar residues of the protein and by interactions of its tail with hydrophobic residues. The three-dimensional structure of different fatty acid-protein complexes along with molecular dynamics simulations are now providing insight into the molecular details of the specificity of the ligand binding.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento Chimica Organica, Università di Padova e Centro Studi Biopolimeri del CNR, Via Marzolo 1, 35131, Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zanotti
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001665:Binding Sites; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D002417:Cattle; D000071438:Fatty Acid-Binding Protein 7; D050556:Fatty Acid-Binding Proteins; D006801:Humans; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009132:Muscles / Q000737:chemistry*; D018996:Myelin P2 Protein / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D009206:Myocardium / Q000737:chemistry; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; D017433:Protein Structure, Secondary; D025521:Tumor Suppressor Proteins
chemical_list: D002352:Carrier Proteins; C107608:FABP7 protein, human; D000071438:Fatty Acid-Binding Protein 7; D050556:Fatty Acid-Binding Proteins; D018996:Myelin P2 Protein; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; D025521:Tumor Suppressor Proteins