Principal Investigator
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P8 Lucy Forrest
Group Leader
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Computational Structural Biology Group
Max Planck Institute of Biophysics
Max-von-Laue-Str. 3
60438 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Phone +49 (0)69 63 03 16 00
Fax +49 (0)69 63 03 15 02
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P8 Computational studies of alternating access mechanisms in sodium-dependent secondary transporters
The alternating-access mechanism provides a theoretical foundation for understanding how membrane transporters function. A key observation is that a relationship appears to exist between the inverted structural repeats within these proteins, and their ability to adopt multiple conformations. Based on this notion, our group uses computational approaches guided by experimental data in order to model alternate states of various sodium-dependent secondary transporters. In addition, to further understand the structure-function relationships of transport and regulation in these proteins, we utilize bioinformatics tools such as homology modeling and sequence analysis, as well as molecular dynamics simulations.
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Publications
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Crisman, T.J., Qu, S., Kanner, B.I., and Forrest, L.R. (2009) Inward-facing conformation of glutamate transporters as revealed by their inverted-topology structural repeats. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 106, 20752-20757.
Forrest, L.R., Zhang, Y.-W., Jacobs, M.T., Gesmonde, J., Xie, L., Honig, B. and Rudnick, G. (2008) A mechanism for alternating access in neurotransmitter transporters. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 105, 10338-10343.
Forrest, L.R., Tavoulari, S., Zhang, Y.-W., Rudnick, G. and Honig, B. (2007) Identification of a chloride ion binding site in Na+/Cl--dependent transporters. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 104, 12761-12766.
Forrest, L.R., Tang, C.L. and Honig, B. (2004) On the accuracy of homology modeling and alignment methods applied to membrane proteins. Biophys J 91, 508-517.
Gimpelev, M., Forrest, L.R. and Honig, B. (2004) Helical packing patterns in membrane and soluble proteins. Biophys J 87, 4075-4086.