Simulating the Activation of Voltage Sensing Domain for a Voltage-Gated Sodium Channel Using Polarizable Force Field.
Voltage-gated sodium (NaV) channels play vital roles in the signal transduction of excitable cells. Upon activation of a NaVchannel, the change of transmembrane voltage triggers conformational change of the voltage sensing domain, which then elicits opening of the pore domain and thus allows an influx of Na+ions. Description of this process with atomistic details is in urgent demand. In this work, we simulated the partial activation process of the voltage sensing domain of a prokaryotic NaVchannel using a polarizable force field. We not only observed the conformational change of the voltage sensing domain from resting to preactive state, but also rigorously estimated the free energy profile along the identified reaction pathway. Comparison with the control simulation using an additive force field indicates that voltage-gating thermodynamics of NaVchannels may be inaccurately described without considering the electrostatic polarization effect.
MOE Key Laboratory of Bioinformatics, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University , Beijing 100084, China.
Rui-Ning
RN
Sun
MOE Key Laboratory of Bioinformatics, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University , Beijing 100084, China.
Haipeng
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5532-1640
H
Gong