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Updated: Aug 13, 2026

Analyzing Protein Architectures and Protein-Ligand Complexes by Integrative Structural Mass Spectrometry
Published on: October 15, 2018
Molecular dynamics study of major urinary protein-pheromone interactions: a structural model for ligand-induced
Pavel Macek1, Petr Novák, Hana Krízová
1National Centre for Biomolecular Research, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University in Brno, Kotlárská 2, 611 37 Brno, Czech Republic.
Abstract:
Recently, two independent (15)N NMR relaxation studies indicated that in contrast to the decreased flexibility expected for induced-fit interactions, the backbone flexibility of major urinary protein isoform I (MUP-I) slightly increased upon complex formation with its natural pheromone 2-sec-butyl-4,5-dihydrothiazol. We have investigated the subtle details of molecular interactions by molecular dynamics simulations in explicit solvent. The calculated order parameters S(2) for a free- and ligand-bound protein supply evidence that mobility in various regions of MUP-I can be directly related to small conformational changes of the free- and complexed protein resulting from modifications of the hydrogen bonding network.
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