Protein dynamics and function: insights from the energy landscape and solvent slaving

IUBMB Life. 2007 Aug-Sep;59(8-9):506-12. doi: 10.1080/15216540701194113.

Abstract

Protein motions are complex and a good way to describe them is in terms of a very high-dimensional conformation space. We give here a simple explanation of the conformation space and the energy landscape, the conformational motions and protein reactions, based on an analogy to a traffic problem. The analogy provides insight into the slaving of protein processes to bulk solvent fluctuations, in both the native and unfolded states.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Models, Molecular
  • Protein Conformation
  • Protein Folding
  • Proteins / chemistry*
  • Solvents / chemistry*

Substances

  • Proteins
  • Solvents