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Published on: May 19, 2017
Design of Calcium-Binding Proteins to Sense Calcium
Shen Tang1, Xiaonan Deng1, Jie Jiang1
1Department of Chemistry, Center for Diagnostics and Therapeutics and Advanced Translational Imaging Facility, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA 30303, USA.
Abstract:
Calcium controls numerous biological processes by interacting with different classes of calcium binding proteins (CaBP's), with different affinities, metal selectivities, kinetics, and calcium dependent conformational changes. Due to the diverse coordination chemistry of calcium, and complexity associated with protein folding and binding cooperativity, the rational design of CaBP's was anticipated to present multiple challenges. In this paper we will first discuss applications of statistical analysis of calcium binding sites in proteins and subsequent development of algorithms to predict and identify calcium binding proteins. Next, we report efforts to identify key determinants for calcium binding affinity, cooperativity and calcium dependent conformational changes using grafting and protein design. Finally, we report recent advances in designing protein calcium sensors to capture calcium dynamics in various cellular environments.
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