Signal Transduction in Nitrogenase Fe Protein

描述（由申请人提供）：信号转导是多种细胞过程（如蛋白质生物合成、激素刺激的代谢活动、肌肉收缩等）中的重要机制，部分通过三磷酸核苷结合和水解诱导的蛋白质构象变化来实现。氮酶中的铁蛋白就是这类蛋白中的一员。虽然存在氮酶组分蛋白的结构，但影响构象变化和MgATP水解的因素尚不清楚。本研究的主要目标是利用生物化学、生物物理和计算技术（x射线晶体学、小角度x射线散射、量热法和QM/MM计算）来定义铁蛋白在核苷酸结合、水解和信号转导过程中的构象变化，以及氨基酸环境对[4Fe-4S]簇性质调节的影响。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Signal transduction, an important mechanism in a variety of cellular processes (e.g. protein biosynthesis, hormone stimulated metabolic activities, muscle contraction, etc.), is carried out in part through protein conformational changes induced by nucleoside triphosphate binding and hydrolysis. The Fe protein in nitrogenase is one member of this class of proteins. Although structures exist for nitrogenase component proteins, the factors affecting conformational change and MgATP hydrolysis are not well understood. The major objectives of this proposal are to use biochemical, biophysical, and computational techniques (x- ray crystallography, small angle x-ray scattering, calorimetry, and QM/MM calculations) to define conformational changes in the Fe protein during nucleotide binding, hydrolysis, and signal transduction as well as effects of amino acid environment on modulating [4Fe-4S] cluster properties.