Related papers: ATP synthase: evolution, energetics, and membrane …
Confocal time resolved single-molecule spectroscopy using pulsed laser excitation and synchronized multi channel time correlated single photon counting (TCSPC) provides detailed information about the conformational changes of a biological…
Recent studies reported that adenosine triphosphate (ATP) could inhibit as well as enhance the phase separation in prion-like proteins. The molecular mechanism underlying such a puzzling phenomenon remains elusive. Here, taking the fused in…
Motor enzymes catalyze chemical reactions, like the hydrolysis of ATP, and in the process they also perform work. Recent studies indicate that motor enzymes perform work with specific intermediate steps in their catalyzed reactions,…
Life is commonly described as a self-organized, far-from-equilibrium process that maintains internal order by consuming free energy and exporting entropy. This thermodynamic view underlies diverse theoretical frameworks -- from autopoiesis…
We examine the interactions between actively rotating proteins moving in a membrane. Experimental evidence suggests that such rotor proteins, like the ATP synthases of the inner mitochondrial membrane, can arrange themselves into lattices.…
Synthesis of the biological "energy currency molecule" adenosine triphosphate ATP is accomplished by FoF1-ATP synthase. In the plasma membrane of Escherichia coli, proton-driven rotation of a ring of 10 c subunits in the Fo motor powers…
Enzymes are on the front lines of evolution. All living organisms rely on highly efficient, specific enzymes for growth, sustenance, and reproduction; and many diseases are a consequence of a mutation on an enzyme that affects its catalytic…
Due to inter-subunit communication, multisubunit enzymes usually hydrolyze ATP in a concerted fashion. However, so far the principle of this process remains poorly understood. In this study, from the viewpoint of statistical thermodynamics,…
Fueled by the hydrolysis of ATP, the motor protein kinesin literally walks on two legs along the biopolymer microtubule. The number of accidental backsteps that kinesin takes appears to be much larger than what one would expect given the…
FoF1-ATP synthases in Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria are membrane-bound enzymes which use an internal proton-driven rotary double motor to catalyze the synthesis of adenosine triphosphate (ATP). According to the 'chemiosmotic…
Polymerization of RNA from a template DNA is carried out by a molecular machine called RNA polymerase (RNAP). It also uses the template as a track on which it moves as a motor utilizing chemical energy input. The time it spends at each…
A living cell is an open, nonequilibrium biochemical system where ATP hydrolysis serves as the energy source for a wide range of intracellular processes, possibly including the assurance for decision-making. In the fission yeast cell cycle,…
Thermogenesis is a physiological activity of releasing heat that originates from intracellular biochemical reactions. Recent experimental studies discovered that externally applied heat changes intracellular signaling locally, resulting in…
Living systems operate far from thermal equilibrium by converting the chemical potential of ATP into mechanical work to achieve growth, replication or locomotion. Given time series observations of intra-, inter- or multicellular processes,…
Photosynthesis is arguably the fundamental process of Life, since it enables energy from the Sun to enter the food-chain on Earth. It is a remarkable non-equilibrium process in which photons are converted to many-body excitations which…
The origin of life required the emergence of metabolism, an autocatalytic network of enzymatic reactions that synthesize amino acids, nucleotides and cofactors. At the origin of metabolism there were no enzymes--how did it start? Empirical…
For more than 3.5 billion years, life experienced dramatic environmental extremes on Earth. These include shifts from oxygen-less to over-oxygenated atmospheres and cycling between hothouse conditions and global glaciations. Meanwhile, an…
F$_1$-ATPase (F$_1$) is central to cellular energy transduction. Forcibly rotated by another motor F$_\mathrm{o}$, F$_1$ catalyzes ATP synthesis by converting mechanical work into chemical free energy stored in the molecule ATP. The details…
Previous kinetic models had assumed that the reaction medium was reacting at random and without a turnover associated to thermodynamics exchanges, with a rigid active site on the enzyme. The experimental studies show that coupling factor 1…
The cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) is an important membrane protein in vertebrates. The function of CFTR is to transport chloride ions across the cell membrane, which is known to require adenosine triphosphate…