Thoeretical study of the packing of α-helices of poly(l-alanine) into transmembrane bundles. Possible significance for ion-transfer

https://doi.org/10.1016/0005-2736(86)90512-2Get rights and content

Abstract

Energy optimizations are carried out on packages of Nα-helices of poly(l-alanine) from N = 3−7, starting from an initial arrangement of the helices at the vertices of various polygonal prisms, in view of the possible formation of channel-making bundles in membranes. The results show: that, for each N, a number of stable packages exist; that the presence of one pair (and even two) of adjacent parallel helices in a package is not incompatible with its stability, due to the overcompensation of its unfavorable electrostatic energy by the sum of the corresponding favorable terms for the antiparallel pairs; and that some packages provide ready-made pores in their interior. The energy profile computed for Na+ inside one of the pores (resulting from five helices) shows a favorable energy all the way through, in spite of the methyl groups protruding into the channel. Similarly one water molecule interacts favorably with this pore throughout.

References (34)

  • Yu.A. Ovchinnikov et al.

    FEBS Lett.

    (1979)
  • J. Kistler et al.

    Biophys. J.

    (1982)
  • R.A. Capaldi

    Trends Biochem. Sci.

    (1982)
  • M.C. Goodall et al.

    Biochim. Biophys. Acta

    (1973)
  • F. Heitz et al.

    Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun.

    (1982)
  • F. Heitz et al.

    Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun.

    (1982)
  • S. Furois-Corbin et al.

    Chem. Phys. Lett.

    (1986)
  • S. Arnott

    Mol. Biol.

    (1967)
  • R. Henderson et al.

    Nature

    (1975)
  • G.E. Gerber et al.
  • J.E. Walker et al.

    Nature

    (1979)
  • M. Noda et al.

    Nature

    (1984)
  • A. Devillers-Thierry et al.
  • T. Claudio et al.
  • M. Noda et al.

    Nature

    (1983)
  • A. Brisson et al.

    Nature

    (1985)
  • D.M. Engelman et al.
  • Cited by (26)

    • NMR Studies of Ion-transporting Biological Channels

      1999, Annual Reports on NMR Spectroscopy
    • Principles of membrane protein structure

      1995, Biomembranes: A Multi-Volume Treatise
    View all citing articles on Scopus
    View full text