Ian Graham and Thomas Duke 2005 Phys. Biol. 2 159 doi:10.1088/1478-3975/2/3/003
Ian Graham1 and Thomas Duke2
Show affiliationsProteins 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.
87.15.N- Properties of solutions of macromolecules
87.15.H- Dynamics of biomolecules
87.15.K- Molecular interactions; membrane-protein interactions
Issue 3 (September 2005)
Received 10 June 2005, accepted for publication 2 August 2005
Published 24 August 2005
Ian Graham and Thomas Duke 2005 Phys. Biol. 2 159
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