Short-Range Protein Electron Transfer

短程蛋白质电子转移

• 批准号: 1412033
• 负责人: Dongping Zhong
• 金额: $ 45万
• 依托单位: Ohio State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2014-08-01 至 2018-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1412033&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Short; Range; Protein; Electron; Transfer

Electron transfer is ubiquitous in biology and essential to a variety of biological activities such as converting chemical energy, catalyzing enzymatic reactions, and triggering biological signaling. Electron transfer in flavoenzymes is directly involved in intracellular antioxidant metabolism and is essential to life. To understand protein electron-transfer reactions at the molecular level, significant efforts have been made both experimentally and theoretically to understand how electrons tunnel from one side to the other side in proteins. At the long-range distance (larger than 10 Angstrom), studies have shown that an electron tunnels in proteins on a timescale of nanoseconds or longer in a similar way as in dielectric media. At the short-range distance, because the protein movements are very fast, electron tunneling will be highly affected by their fluctuations. Using an ultrafast instrument similar to a camera to record every moment of electron motions in billionth of millionth of a second, the dynamics of electron transfer can be mapped out. With modern molecular biology, the manipulation of electron motions can also be achieved. This interdisciplinary project, integrating physics, chemistry and biology, will lead to new discoveries and new concepts in the chemistry of biological processes and train a new generation of young interdisciplinary scientists. With this award, the Chemistry of Life Processes Program in the Chemistry Division is funding Dr. Dongping Zhong from The Ohio State University to systematically investigate electron-transfer dynamics at short distances. Using ultrafast spectroscopy and molecular mutation methods, the dynamics of electron-transfer reactions at different short distances will be characterized through a series of designed mutants that will vary the transfer separation. The local protein fluctuations will be examined to quantitatively analyze the coupling of electron transfer with local protein motions. Such coupled nonequilibrium dynamics is central to protein dynamics and is essential to life processes. By developing several analytical models, how short-range electron transfer dynamics are modulated by local protein fluctuations will be quantitatively evaluated. These studies will be the first to systematically study short-range electron transfer dynamics in proteins and make significant contributions to understanding how electron tunnels at a short range, a central topic to chemistry in biological processes.This project is also co-funded by the Chemical Structure Dynamics and Mechanisms Program in the Chemistry Division.

电子转移在生物学中是普遍存在的，并且对于各种生物活性（例如转换化学能量、催化酶促反应和触发生物信号）是必不可少的。黄酶中的电子转移直接参与细胞内抗氧化剂代谢，对生命至关重要。为了在分子水平上理解蛋白质的电子转移反应，在实验和理论上都做出了重大努力来理解电子如何从蛋白质的一侧隧穿到另一侧。在远距离（大于10埃），研究表明，电子在蛋白质中以纳秒或更长的时间尺度隧穿，其方式与介电介质中类似。在短距离内，由于蛋白质的运动非常快，电子隧穿将受到其波动的高度影响。使用一种类似于照相机的超快仪器，在百万分之十亿分之一秒内记录电子运动的每一个瞬间，就可以绘制出电子转移的动力学。利用现代分子生物学，也可以实现对电子运动的操纵。这一跨学科项目融合了物理学、化学和生物学，将导致生物过程化学的新发现和新概念，并培养新一代年轻的跨学科科学家。 有了这个奖项，化学部的生命过程化学项目资助俄亥俄州州立大学的钟东平博士系统地研究短距离的电子转移动力学。使用超快光谱和分子突变方法，在不同的短距离的电子转移反应的动力学将通过一系列设计的突变体，将不同的转移分离的特点。我们将研究蛋白质的局部波动，以定量分析电子转移与蛋白质局部运动的耦合。这种耦合的非平衡动力学是蛋白质动力学的核心，对生命过程至关重要。通过开发几个分析模型，如何短程电子转移动力学调制本地蛋白质的波动将定量评估。这些研究将是第一个系统地研究蛋白质中短程电子转移动力学的研究，并为理解电子如何在短程隧道中发挥作用做出重要贡献，这是生物过程中化学的核心课题。该项目也由化学部化学结构动力学和机制计划共同资助。