title: Dissecting the molecular origins of specific protein-nucleic acid recognition: hydrostatic pressure and molecular dynamics.
abstract: The fundamental processes by which proteins recognize and bind to nucleic acids are critical to understanding cellular function. To explore the factors involved in protein-DNA recognition, we used hydrostatic pressure to perturb the binding of the BamHI endonuclease to cognate DNA, both in experiment and in molecular dynamic simulations. A new technique of high-pressure gel mobility shift analysis was used to test the effects of elevated hydrostatic pressure on the binding of BamHI to its cognate recognition sequence. Upon application of a pressure of 500 bar, the equilibrium dissociation constant of BamHI binding to the cognate site was found to increase nearly 10-fold. A challenge has been to link this type of pure thermodynamic measurement to functional events occurring at the molecular level. Thus, we used molecular dynamic simulations at both ambient and elevated pressures to reveal details of the direct and water-mediated interactions between BamHI and cognate DNA, which allow explanation of the effects of pressure on site-specific protein-DNA binding and complex stability.
authors.affiliation: Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology and Department of Biochemistry, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA.
authors.forename: Thomas W
authors.initials: TW
authors.lastname: Lynch
authors.forename: Dorina
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kosztin
authors.forename: Mark A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: McLean
authors.forename: Klaus
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Schulten
authors.forename: Stephen G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Sligar
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D001665:Binding Sites; D003198:Computer Simulation; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D015245:Deoxyribonuclease BamHI / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D006874:Hydrostatic Pressure; D008958:Models, Molecular; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D009838:Oligodeoxyribonucleotides / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D011487:Protein Conformation; D011506:Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D009838:Oligodeoxyribonucleotides; D011506:Proteins; D004247:DNA; D015245:Deoxyribonuclease BamHI