Elucidating factors important for monovalent cation selectivity in enzymes: E. coli ß-galactosidase as a model.

Many enzymes require a specific monovalent cation (M(+)), that is either Na(+) or K(+), for optimal activity. While high selectivity M(+) sites in transport proteins have been extensively studied, enzyme M(+) binding sites generally have lower selectivity and are less characterized. Here we study the M(+) binding site of the model enzyme E. coli ß-galactosidase, which is about 10 fold selective for Na(+) over K(+). Combining data from X-ray crystallography and computational models, we find the electrostatic environment predominates in defining the Na(+) selectivity. In this lower selectivity site rather subtle influences on the electrostatic environment become significant, including the induced polarization effects of the M(+) on the coordinating ligands and the effect of second coordination shell residues on the charge distribution of the primary ligands. This work expands the knowledge of ion selectivity in proteins to denote novel mechanisms important for the selectivity of M(+) sites in enzymes.

Na(+), K (+) and Tl(+) hydration from QM/MM computations and MD simulations with a polarizable force field.

The hydration of three different monovalent cations was studied with a number of theoretical approaches ranging from classical MD simulations to MD simulations with a polarizable force field and finally to QM/MM MD. A particular emphasis was put on the development of a novel polarizable potential function for studies of Tl(+) hydration enabling the ability to reproduce key features observed in QM/MM simulations. We extended the CHARMM-deMon interface developed previously to studies of ion hydration with QM/MM simulations. All simulations reproduce experimental data on the Radial Distribution Function (RDF) accurately. However, notable differences start to emerge in the description of probabilities for coordination states of an ion if explicit account of polarization is included.