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Confinement Alters the Structure and Function of Calmodulin
Author(s) -
Xu Guohua,
Cheng Kai,
Wu Qiong,
Liu Maili,
Li Conggang
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
angewandte chemie international edition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.831
H-Index - 550
eISSN - 1521-3773
pISSN - 1433-7851
DOI - 10.1002/anie.201609639
Subject(s) - micelle , calmodulin , biophysics , chemistry , function (biology) , protein structure , structure function , microbiology and biotechnology , biochemistry , biology , enzyme , physics , aqueous solution , particle physics
Many cellular reactions involving proteins, including their biosynthesis, misfolding, and transport, occur in confined compartments. Despite its importance, a structural basis of understanding of how confined environments alter protein function is still lacking. Herein, we explore structure–function correlations of calmodulin (CaM), a multidomain protein involved in many calcium‐mediated signaling pathways, in reverse micelles. Confinement dramatically alters CaM structure and function. The protein forms an extended structure in bulk water, but becomes compacted in reverse micelles. In addition, confinement changes the function of CaM. Specifically, the protein binds the MLCK, AcN19, and somatostatin peptides in dilute buffer, but binds only the MLCK and AcN19 peptides in reverse micelles. In summary, we determined a new CaM structure in reverse micelles and demonstrate that confinement can modulate both protein structure and function.