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The logical repertoire of ligand-binding proteins

Ian Graham1 and Thomas Duke2

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Proteins whose conformation can be altered by the equilibrium binding of a regulatory ligand are one of the main building blocks of signal-processing networks in cells. Typically, such proteins switch between an 'inactive' and an 'active' state, as the concentration of the regulator varies. We investigate the properties of proteins that can bind two different ligands and show that these proteins can individually act as logical elements: their 'output', quantified by their average level of activity, depends on the two 'inputs', the concentrations of both regulators. In the case where the two ligands can bind simultaneously, we show that all of the elementary logical functions can be implemented by appropriate tuning of the ligand-binding energies. If the ligands bind exclusively, the logical repertoire is more limited. When such proteins cluster together, cooperative interactions can greatly enhance the sharpness of the response. Protein clusters can therefore act as digital logical elements whose activity can be abruptly switched from fully inactive to fully active, as the concentrations of the regulators pass threshold values. We discuss a particular instance in which this type of protein logic appears to be used in signal transduction—the chemotaxis receptors of E. coli.


PACS

87.14.E- Proteins

87.15.N- Properties of solutions of macromolecules

87.15.H- Dynamics of biomolecules

87.15.K- Molecular interactions; membrane-protein interactions

87.15.R- Reactions and kinetics

87.15.B- Structure of biomolecules

Subjects

Biological physics

Dates

Issue 3 (September 2005)

Received 10 June 2005, accepted for publication 2 August 2005

Published 24 August 2005

 
A protein lattice, showing active (black) and inactive (white) proteins. The lines indicated protein-protein coupling.


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