title: Screened nonbonded interactions in native proteins manipulate optimal paths for robust residue communication.
abstract: A protein structure is represented as a network of residues whereby edges are determined by intramolecular contacts. We introduce inhomogeneity into these networks by assigning each edge a weight that is determined by amino acid pair potentials. Two methodologies are utilized to calculate the average path lengths (APLs) between pairs: to minimize i), the maximum weight in the strong APL, and ii), the total weight in the weak APL. We systematically screen edges that have higher than a cutoff potential and calculate the shortest APLs in these reduced networks, while keeping chain connectivity. Therefore, perturbations introduced at a selected region of the residue network propagate to remote regions only along the nonscreened edges that retain their ability to disseminate the perturbation. The shortest APLs computed from the reduced homogeneous networks with only the strongest few nonbonded pairs closely reproduce the strong APLs from the weighted networks. The rate of change in the APL in the reduced residue network as compared to its randomly connected counterpart remains constant until a lower bound. Upon further link removal, this property shows an abrupt increase toward a random coil behavior. Under different perturbation scenarios, diverse optimal paths emerge for robust residue communication.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Sabanci University, 34956 Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ali Rana
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Atilgan
authors.forename: Deniz
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Turgut
authors.forename: Canan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Atilgan
mesh_terms: D000596:Amino Acids / Q000737:chemistry*; D001665:Binding Sites; D003198:Computer Simulation; D008956:Models, Chemical; D008958:Models, Molecular; D011485:Protein Binding; D011487:Protein Conformation; D025941:Protein Interaction Mapping / Q000379:methods*; D011506:Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D020539:Sequence Analysis, Protein / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D000596:Amino Acids; D011506:Proteins