The diverse structures of molybdate anions significantly provide new opportunities to design various nanostructures of MoO x -based organic-inorganic hybrids with prominent catalytic, electrochemical and photo/electrochromic properties. In this paper, the one-dimensional (1D) growth originating from anisotropic molybdate anions is successfully introduced to prepare a series of hybrid nanowires of Mo 3 O 10 (C 6 H 8 N) 2 $2H 2 O (anilinium trimolybdate), Mo 3 O 10 (C 2 H 10 N 2 ) (ethylenediamine trimolybdate) and Mo 3 O 10 (C 5 H 6 N) 2 $H 2 O (pyridium trimolybdate). Taking Mo 3 O 10 (C 6 H 8 N) 2 $2H 2 O for example, the 1D growth is proved to be associated with the chain-like structure of Mo 3 O 10 2À anions by both experiments and quantum chemical calculations. Meanwhile, the synthesis parameters, e.g., reacting time, pH conditions and feeding ratio, show obvious influences on product morphologies based on different molybdate anions, further validating the growth mechanism. More importantly, the asobtained MoO x /amine nanostructures remarkably exhibit tunable photochromic properties depending on their 1D structures and hybrid composites, which presents the potential to design well-tailored functional optical nanodevices.

ATP binding cassette transporters are integral membrane proteins that use the energy released from ATP hydrolysis at the two nucleotide binding domains (NBDs) to translocate a wide variety of substrates through a channel at the two transmembrane domains (TMDs) across the cell membranes. MsbA from Gram-negative bacteria is a lipid and multidrug resistance ATP binding cassette exporter that can undergo large scale conformational changes between the outward-facing and the inwardfacing conformations revealed by crystal structures in different states. Here, we use targeted molecular dynamics simulation methods to explore the atomic details of the conformational transition from the outward-facing to the inward-facing states of MsbA. The molecular dynamics trajectories revealed a clear spatiotemporal order of the conformational movements. The disruption of the nucleotide binding sites at the NBD dimer interface is the very first event that initiates the following conformational changes, verifying the assumption that the conformational conversion is triggered by ATP hydrolysis. The conserved x-loops of the NBDs were identified to participate in the interaction network that stabilizes the cytoplasmic tetrahelix bundle of the TMDs and play an important role in mediating the cross-talk between the NBD and TMD. The movement of the NBD dimer is transmitted through x-loops to break the tetrahelix bundle, inducing the packing rearrangements of the transmembrane helices at the cytoplasmic side and the periplasmic side sequentially. The packing rearrangement within each periplasmic wing of TMD that results in exposure of the substrate binding sites occurred at the end stage of the trajectory, preventing the wrong timing of the binding site accessibility. ATP binding cassette (ABC)2 transporters are integral membrane proteins that utilize the energy of ATP hydrolysis to translocate a wide variety of substrates, including ions, peptides, sugars, toxins, lipids, and drug molecules, across the cell membrane (1, 2). ABC transporters are implicated in multidrug resistance (MDR) and represent key targets for drug development (3, 4). They are minimally composed of two transmembrane (TM) domains (TMDs) and a pair of nucleotide-binding domains (NBDs) (5-7). TMDs usually enclose a central pore, which probably acts as the translocation pathway of substrates. Despite various architectures of the central pore demonstrated in the crystal structures of different ABC transporters reported so far, most of them can be classified into two states, i.e. the inward-facing (8 -13) and the outward-facing states (14 -16). The inward-facing conformation allows access of the pore to the cytoplasm but not to the periplasm and vice versa for the outward-facing conformation. Large scale conformational changes between these two states were proposed to be essential for the transport cycle (17-19). The NBDs are highly conserved among ABC transporter families containing conserved structural motifs such as Walker A (P loop) and LSGGQ (signature) motifs. The two NB...

Protein interactions involving intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) comprise a variety of binding modes, from the well-characterized folding upon binding to dynamic fuzzy complexes. To date, most studies concern the binding of an IDP to a structured protein, while the interaction between two IDPs is poorly understood. In this study, NMR, smFRET, and molecular dynamics (MD) simulation are combined to characterize the interaction between two IDPs, the C-terminal domain (CTD) of protein 4.1G and the nuclear mitotic apparatus (NuMA) protein. It is revealed that CTD and NuMA form a fuzzy complex with remaining structural disorder. Multiple binding sites on both proteins were identified by molecular dynamics and mutagenesis studies. This study provides an atomic scenario in which two IDPs bearing multiple binding sites interact with each other in dynamic equilibrium. The combined approach employed here could be widely applicable for investigating IDPs and their dynamic interactions.

While most SNAREs are permanently anchored to membranes by their transmembrane domains, the dually lipidated SNARE Ykt6 is found both on intracellular membranes and in the cytosol. The cytosolic Ykt6 is inactive due to the autoinhibition of the SNARE core by its longin domain, although the molecular basis of this inhibition is unknown. Here, we demonstrate that unlipidated Ykt6 adopts multiple conformations, with a small population in the closed state. The structure of Ykt6 in complex with a fatty acid suggests that, upon farnesylation, the Ykt6 SNARE core forms four alpha helices that wrap around the longin domain, forming a dominantly closed conformation. The fatty acid, buried in a hydrophobic groove formed between the longin domain and its SNARE core, is essential for maintaining the autoinhibited conformation of Ykt6. Our study reveals that the posttranslationally attached farnesyl group can actively regulate Ykt6 fusion activity in addition to its anticipated membrane-anchoring role.

The two N-terminal PDZ domains of postsynaptic density protein-95 (PDS-95 PDZ1 and PDZ2) are closely connected in tandem by a conserved peptide linker of five amino acids. The interdomain orientation between PDZ1 and PDZ2 of the ligand-free PDZ12 tandem is restrained, and this conformational arrangement facilitates the synergistic binding of PDZ12 to multimeric targets. (1) The interdomain orientation of the target-bound state of PDZ12 is not known. Here, we have solved the structure of PDZ12 in complex with its binding domain from cypin. Both chemical shift data and residual dipolar coupling measurements showed that the restrained interdomain orientation disappeared upon cypin peptide binding. NMR-based relaxation experiments revealed slow interdomain motions in the PDZ12/cypin peptide complex. Molecular dynamics simulations also showed that the PDZ12/cypin complex has larger conformational flexibility than the ligand-free PDZ12. This dramatic change of protein dynamics provides extra conformational entropy upon ligand binding, thus enhancing the ligand binding affinity of the PDZ12 tandem. Modulation of ligand binding affinity through concerted interdomain structural and dynamic rearrangements may represent a general property of multidomain scaffold proteins.

The Ras protein is one of the most important drug targets for battling cancers. To effectively design novel drugs of Ras, we characterize here its conformational ensembles for the hydrolysis intermediate state RasGDP•Pi and the product state RasGDP by extensive replica-exchange molecular dynamics simulations. Several substates for RasGDP•Pi have been identified, while structural analyses have revealed an unrecognized hydrogen-bonding network that stabilizes the hydrolysis intermediate state. More interestingly, Gln61, which is involved in numerous oncogenic mutations, was found to be engaged in this hydrogen-bonding network, adopting a specific conformation that always points to Pi in contrast to that in the RasGTP state. The simulations also reveal that RasGDP has more than one substate, suggesting a conformational selection mechanism for the interaction between Ras and the guanine nucleotide exchange factors (GEFs). These findings offer new opportunities for the drug design of Ras by stabilizing the hydrolysis intermediate or disrupting its interaction with the GEFs.

ATP-binding cassette transporter BtuCD mediating vitamin B(12) uptake in Escherichia coli couples the energy of ATP hydrolysis to the translocation of vitamin B(12) across the membrane into the cell. Elastic normal mode analysis of BtuCD demonstrates that the simultaneous substrate trapping at periplasmic cavity and ATP binding at the ATP-binding cassette (BtuD) dimer proceeds readily along the lowest energy pathway. The transport power stroke is attributed to ATP-hydrolysis-induced opening of the nucleotide-binding domain dimer, which is coupled to conformational rearrangement of transmembrane domain (BtuC) helices leading to the closing at the periplasmic side and opening at the cytoplasmic gate. Simultaneous hydrolysis of two ATP is supported by the fact that antisymmetric movement of BtuD dimer implying alternating hydrolysis cannot induce effective conformational change of the translocation pathway. A plausible mechanism of translocation cycle is proposed in which the possible effect of the association of periplasmic binding protein BtuF to the transporter is also considered.

The resistance-nodulation-cell division transporter AcrB is responsible for energy transduction and substrate recognition in the tripartite AcrAB-TolC efflux system in Escherichia coli. Despite a broad substrate specificity, only a few compounds have been cocrystallized with AcrB inside the distal binding pocket (DBP), including doxorubicin (DOX) and D13-9001. D13-9001 is a promising efflux pump inhibitor that potentiates the efficacy of a wide variety of antibiotics. To understand its inhibition effect under the framework of functional rotating mechanism, we performed targeted and steered molecular dynamics simulations to compare the binding and extrusion processes of this inhibitor and the substrate DOX in AcrB. The results demonstrate that, with respect to DOX, the interaction of D13-9001 with the hydrophobic trap results in delayed disassociation from the DBP. Notably, the detachment of D13-9001 is tightly correlated with the side-chain reorientation of Phe628 and large-scale displacement of Tyr327. Furthermore, the inhibitor induces much more significant conformational changes at the exit gate than DOX does, thereby causing higher energy cost for extrusion and contributing to the inhibitory effect in addition to the tight binding at DBP.