title: A potential molecular switch in an alpha-helical coiled coil.
abstract: The yeast DNA-binding protein GCN4 forms a homo-dimer through a self-complementary coiled-coil interface. In this article, we describe how such coiled-coils might be bistable and, through Molecular Dynamics computations on the GCN4 coiled coil, we show that the coiled coil can indeed switch between the two states by a pathway in which there is a progressive "flipping" of consecutive steps along the interface. We discuss the general implications of potentially bistable coiled-coil interfaces for allosteric signal-transmission mechanisms along homo-dimeric coiled coils and for the packing of helices in globular proteins.
authors.affiliation: School of Pharmacy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Charles A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Laughton
authors.forename: Ben F
authors.initials: BF
authors.lastname: Luisi
authors.forename: J Venkatesh
authors.initials: JV
authors.lastname: Pratap
authors.forename: Chris R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Calladine
mesh_terms: D000494:Allosteric Regulation; D050976:Basic-Leucine Zipper Transcription Factors; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000737:chemistry*; D011487:Protein Conformation; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000737:chemistry*; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins / Q000737:chemistry*; D015398:Signal Transduction; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D050976:Basic-Leucine Zipper Transcription Factors; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; C501391:GCN4 protein, S cerevisiae; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors