非均匀拥挤环境中大分子缔合的热力学:基于简化模型的理论与模拟研究

Thermodynamics of Macromolecular Association in Heterogeneous Crowding Environments: Theoretical and Simulation Studies with a Simplified Model.

作者信息

Ando Tadashi, Yu Isseki, Feig Michael, Sugita Yuji

机构信息

RIKEN Quantitative Biology Center (QBiC), Integrated Innovation Building 7F, 6-7-1 Minatojima-minamimachi, Chuo-ku, Kobe, Hyogo 650-0047, Japan.

RIKEN Theoretical Molecular Science Laboratory and iTHES, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako-shi, Saitama 351-0198, Japan.

出版信息

J Phys Chem B. 2016 Nov 23;120(46):11856-11865. doi: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.6b06243. Epub 2016 Nov 15.

Abstract

The cytoplasm of a cell is crowded with many different kinds of macromolecules. The macromolecular crowding affects the thermodynamics and kinetics of biological reactions in a living cell, such as protein folding, association, and diffusion. Theoretical and simulation studies using simplified models focus on the essential features of the crowding effects and provide a basis for analyzing experimental data. In most of the previous studies on the crowding effects, a uniform crowder size is assumed, which is in contrast to the inhomogeneous size distribution of macromolecules in a living cell. Here, we evaluate the free energy changes upon macromolecular association in a cell-like inhomogeneous crowding system via a theory of hard-sphere fluids and free energy calculations using Brownian dynamics trajectories. The inhomogeneous crowding model based on 41 different types of macromolecules represented by spheres with different radii mimics the physiological concentrations of macromolecules in the cytoplasm of Mycoplasma genitalium. The free energy changes of macromolecular association evaluated by the theory and simulations were in good agreement with each other. The crowder size distribution affects both specific and nonspecific molecular associations, suggesting that not only the volume fraction but also the size distribution of macromolecules are important factors for evaluating in vivo crowding effects. This study relates in vitro experiments on macromolecular crowding to in vivo crowding effects by using the theory of hard-sphere fluids with crowder-size heterogeneity.

摘要

细胞的细胞质中挤满了许多不同种类的大分子。大分子拥挤效应影响活细胞中生物反应的热力学和动力学,如蛋白质折叠、缔合和扩散。使用简化模型的理论和模拟研究聚焦于拥挤效应的基本特征,并为分析实验数据提供了基础。在之前大多数关于拥挤效应的研究中,假定拥挤剂大小是均匀的,这与活细胞中大分子大小的非均匀分布形成对比。在此,我们通过硬球流体理论和使用布朗动力学轨迹的自由能计算,评估类细胞非均匀拥挤系统中大分子缔合时的自由能变化。基于41种不同类型大分子(由具有不同半径的球体表示)的非均匀拥挤模型模拟了生殖支原体细胞质中大分子的生理浓度。通过理论和模拟评估的大分子缔合自由能变化彼此吻合良好。拥挤剂大小分布影响特异性和非特异性分子缔合,这表明不仅体积分数,而且大分子的大小分布都是评估体内拥挤效应的重要因素。本研究通过使用具有拥挤剂大小异质性的硬球流体理论,将大分子拥挤的体外实验与体内拥挤效应联系起来。

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