Loading...
Please wait, while we are loading the content...
Similar Documents
The origin and early evolution of membrane proteins
| Content Provider | NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS) |
|---|---|
| Author | Pohorille, Andrew Wilson, Michael A. Schweighofer, Karl |
| Copyright Year | 2005 |
| Description | Membrane proteins mediate functions that are essential to all cells. These functions include transport of ions, nutrients and waste products across cell walls, capture of energy and its transduction into the form usable in chemical reactions, transmission of environmental signals to the interior of the cell, cellular growth and cell volume regulation. In the absence of membrane proteins, ancestors of cell (protocells), would have had only very limited capabilities to communicate with their environment. Thus, it is not surprising that membrane proteins are quite common even in simplest prokaryotic cells. Considering that contemporary membrane channels are large and complex, both structurally and functionally, a question arises how their presumably much simpler ancestors could have emerged, perform functions and diversify in early protobiological evolution. Remarkably, despite their overall complexity, structural motifs in membrane proteins are quite simple, with a-helices being most common. This suggests that these proteins might have evolved from simple building blocks. To explain how these blocks could have organized into functional structures, we performed large-scale, accurate computer simulations of folding peptides at a water-membrane interface, their insertion into the membrane, self-assembly into higher-order structures and function. The results of these simulations, combined with analysis of structural and functional experimental data led to the first integrated view of the origin and early evolution of membrane proteins. |
| File Size | 122859 |
| Page Count | 2 |
| File Format | |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | http://archive.org/details/NASA_NTRS_Archive_20050184164 |
| Archival Resource Key | ark:/13960/t58d4w22x |
| Language | English |
| Publisher Date | 2005-01-01 |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Subject Keyword | Proteins Protobiology Cells Biology Peptides Prokaryotes Biological Evolution Cell Membranes Biology Cell Division Chemical Reactions Molecular Ions Ntrs Nasa Technical Reports Server (ntrs) Nasa Technical Reports Server Aerodynamics Aircraft Aerospace Engineering Aerospace Aeronautic Space Science |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
