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Related Concept Videos

Protein Diffusion in the Membrane01:24

Protein Diffusion in the Membrane

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Proteins show rotational as well as lateral diffusion across the membrane. The lateral diffusion of proteins was confirmed through the cell fusion experiment where mouse and human cells were fused, resulting in hybrid cells. When the human and mouse cells fused, the specific membrane proteins on human and mouse cells were marked with the red and green-fluorescent markers, respectively. Initially, the red and green fluorescence was located on the respective hemisphere of the cell. As time...
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Diffusion is the passive movement of substances down their concentration gradients—requiring no expenditure of cellular energy. Substances, such as molecules or ions, diffuse from an area of high concentration to an area of low concentration in the cytosol or across membranes. Eventually, the concentration will even out, with the substance moving randomly but causing no net change in concentration. Such a state is called dynamic equilibrium, which is essential for maintaining overall...
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Diffusion is a type of passive transport. In passive transport, a substance tends to move from an area of high concentration to an area of low concentration until the concentration is equal across the space. For example, take the diffusion of substances through the air. When someone opens a perfume bottle in a room filled with people, the perfume is at its highest concentration in the bottle and is at its lowest at the edges of the room. The perfume vapor will diffuse, or spread away, from the...
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The chemical and physical properties of plasma membranes cause them to be selectively permeable. Since plasma membranes have both hydrophobic and hydrophilic regions, substances need to be able to transverse both regions. The hydrophobic area of membranes repels substances such as charged ions. Therefore, such substances need special membrane proteins to cross a membrane successfully. In  facilitated transport, also known as facilitated diffusion, molecules and ions travel across a...
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The chemical and physical properties of plasma membranes cause them to be selectively permeable. Since plasma membranes have both hydrophobic and hydrophilic regions, substances need to be able to transverse both regions. The hydrophobic area of membranes repels substances such as charged ions. Therefore, such substances need special membrane proteins to cross a membrane successfully. In  facilitated transport, also known as facilitated diffusion, molecules and ions travel across a...
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The plasma membrane, a critical structure in cellular biology, houses an array of transporters, or carrier proteins, interspersed within its lipid bilayer. These proteins play a crucial role in solute transport through facilitated diffusion, a form of passive diffusion that uses transporters to move the molecules across the membrane.
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Measurement of Force-Sensitive Protein Dynamics in Living Cells Using a Combination of Fluorescent Techniques
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Driving Forces of Protein Diffusion.

Setare Mostajabi Sarhangi1, Dmitry V Matyushov1

  • 1Department of Physics and School of Molecular Sciences, Arizona State University, P.O. Box 871504, Tempe, Arizona 85287-1504, United States.

The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters
|November 16, 2020
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Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Protein diffusion arises from molecular forces. Molecular dynamics simulations reveal electrostatic and van der Waals forces largely compensate each other, challenging standard friction theories for protein dynamics.

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Area of Science:

  • Biophysics
  • Computational Biology
  • Physical Chemistry

Background:

  • Protein diffusion is often explained by the Stokes-Einstein equation, attributing it to random molecular collisions.
  • An alternative view considers diffusion as driven by unbalanced stochastic forces exerted by water molecules on the protein.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To analyze the van der Waals (vdW) and electrostatic forces acting on proteins during diffusion using molecular dynamics simulations.
  • To investigate the relationship between these forces and the overall dynamics of protein translational and rotational diffusion.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized molecular dynamics simulations to model protein mutants with varying charges.
  • Analyzed the van der Waals (vdW) and electrostatic forces acting on the proteins.
  • Examined the dynamics and statistics of fluctuating torques influencing rotational diffusion.

Main Results:

  • Found a strong correlation between vdW and electrostatic forces, indicating significant compensation between them.
  • Observed that both vdW and electrostatic forces relax on a similar timescale (5-6 ns).
  • The relaxation time of the total force was vastly different (six orders of magnitude) from the individual force relaxation times.

Conclusions:

  • Standard linear theories of dielectric friction are inadequate for describing protein translational and rotational diffusion, overestimating friction significantly.
  • The interplay between vdW and electrostatic forces is crucial for understanding protein diffusion dynamics.