Open AccessThe VES hypothesis and protein misfolding
Author(s) -
Leonor Cruzeiro
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
discrete and continuous dynamical systems. series s
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.481
H-Index - 34
eISSN - 1937-1632
pISSN - 1937-1179
DOI - 10.3934/dcdss.2011.4.1033
Subject(s) - quantum , protein folding , excited state , function (biology) , chemical physics , molecule , physics , chemistry , biology , quantum mechanics , evolutionary biology , biochemistry
Proteins function by changing conformation. These conformational changes, which involve the concerted motion of a large number of atoms are classical events but, in many cases, the triggers are quantum mechani-
cal events such as chemical reactions. Here the initial quantum states after
the chemical reaction are assumed to be vibrational excited states, something
that has been designated as the VES hypothesis. While the dynamics under
classical force fields fail to explain the relatively lower structural stability of
the proteins associated with misfolding diseases, the application of the VES hy-
pothesis to two cases can provide a new explanation for this phenomenon. This explanation relies on the transfer of vibrational energy from water molecules to proteins, a process whose viability is also examined