Dynamical Behavior of the Human Ferroportin Homologue from Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus: Insight into the Ligand Recognition Mechanism.
Valentina TortosaMaria Carmela Bonaccorsi di PattiFederico IacovelliAndrea PasquadibisceglieMattia FalconiGiovanni MusciFabio PolticelliPublished in: International journal of molecular sciences (2020)
Members of the major facilitator superfamily of transporters (MFS) play an essential role in many physiological processes such as development, neurotransmission, and signaling. Aberrant functions of MFS proteins are associated with several diseases, including cancer, schizophrenia, epilepsy, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and Alzheimer's disease. MFS transporters are also involved in multidrug resistance in bacteria and fungi. The structures of most MFS members, especially those of members with significant physiological relevance, are yet to be solved. The lack of structural and functional information impedes our detailed understanding, and thus the pharmacological targeting, of these transporters. To improve our knowledge on the mechanistic principles governing the function of MSF members, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were performed on the inward-facing and outward-facing crystal structures of the human ferroportin homologue from the Gram-negative bacterium Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus (BdFpn). Several simulations with an excess of iron ions were also performed to explore the relationship between the protein's dynamics and the ligand recognition mechanism. The results reinforce the existence of the alternating-access mechanism already described for other MFS members. In addition, the reorganization of salt bridges, some of which are conserved in several MFS members, appears to be a key molecular event facilitating the conformational change of the transporter.
Keyphrases
- molecular dynamics
- density functional theory
- gram negative
- endothelial cells
- amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
- multidrug resistant
- healthcare
- transcription factor
- bipolar disorder
- high resolution
- pluripotent stem cells
- induced pluripotent stem cells
- cancer therapy
- quantum dots
- single molecule
- drug delivery
- papillary thyroid
- molecular dynamics simulations
- amino acid
- health information
- lymph node metastasis
- protein protein
- monte carlo