Related papers: Sequence Evolution, Structure and Dynamics of Tran…
We focus here on the scaling properties of small interspecies differences between red cone opsin transmembrane proteins, using a hydropathic elastic roughening tool previously applied to the rhodopsin rod transmembrane proteins. This tool…
The increasing interest in photoactivated proteins as natural replacement of standard inorganic materials in photocells drives to the compared analysis of bacteriorhodopsin and proteorhodopsin, two widely diffused proteins belonging to the…
The behavior of disease-linked mutations of membrane proteins is especially simple in rhodopsin, where they are well-studied, as they are responsible for retinitis pigmentosa, RP (retinal degeneration). Here we show that the frequency of…
Proteins appear to be the most dramatic natural example of self-organized network criticality (SONC), a concept that explains many otherwise apparently exponentially unlikely phenomena. Adaptive plasticity is a term which has become much…
Sensory rhodopsin II (SRII) is a seven helix protein that belongs to the rhodopsin protein family. Light induced conformational changes govern SRII's function. These changes are related to the photo cycle of the protein that is comprised of…
Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a group of inherited degenerative eye diseases characterized by mutations in the genetic structure of the photoreceptors that leads to the premature death of both rod and cone photoreceptors. Defects in…
When moving from native to light activated bacteriorhodopsin, modification of charge transport consisting of an increase of conductance is correlated to the protein conformational change. A theoretical model based on a map of the protein…
We report a theoretical/computational approach for modeling the current-voltage characteristics of sensing proteins. The modeling is applied to a couple of transmembrane proteins, bacteriorhodopsin and proteorhodopsin, sensitive to visible…
We investigate conductance and conductance fluctuations of two transmembrane proteins, bacteriorhodopsin and proteorhodopsin, belonging to the family of protein light receptors. These proteins are widely diffused in aqueous environments,…
G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) constitute a broad class of cell-surface receptors in eukaryotes and they possess seven transmembrane a-helical domains. GPCRs are usually classified into several functionally distinct families that play…
Melanins are a group of complex pigments of biological origin, widely spread in all species from fungi to man. Among diverse types of melanins, the human melanins, eumelanins,are brown or black nitrogen-containing pigments, mostly known for…
Proteins are fundamental biological entities mediating key roles in cellular function and disease. This paper introduces a multi-scale graph construction of a protein -- HoloProt -- connecting surface to structure and sequence. The surface…
As I compress on the canvas of a few pages here major results of my research on the retinoblastoma tumor suppressor protein (RB) spreading over the past 15 years, an exciting picture emerges on this unique host molecule which surpasses in…
The two striking components of retina, i.e., the light sensitive neural layer in the eye, by which it responds to light are (the three types of) color sensitive Cones and color insensitive Rods (which outnumber the cones 20:1). The…
Adenosine receptors are G-protein-coupled receptors involved in a wide range of physiological and pathological phenomena in most mammalian systems. All four receptors are widely expressed in the central nervous system, where they modulate…
The retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) is a key site of pathogenesis for many retina diseases. The formation of drusen in the retina is characteristic of retinal degeneration. We investigate morphological changes in the RPE in the presence of…
Photoproteins such as bacteriorhodopsin (bR) and rhodopsin (Rho) need to effectively dissipate photoinduced excess energy to prevent their damage. Another well-studied G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) containing 7 transmembrane (TM)…
G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are a large superfamily of membrane proteins that are activated by extracellular small molecules or photons. Neurotensin receptor 1 (NTSR1) is a GPCR that is activated by neurotensin, i.e. a 13 amino acid…
Evolution of the amino acid sequences of transthyretin (TTR) can provide additional information about its dynamics that both complements and extends the already extensive static structural data. Protein dynamics is largely driven by…
TRPC(3,6) are two ~ 930 amino acid membrane proteins that form calcium permeant cation channels. Here we examine the differences between mammals and oviparous species. Our method is based on the concept of evolution towards criticality, a…