Conformational thermodynamics of metal-ion binding to a protein

Abstract

Conformational changes in proteins induced by metal-ions play extremely important role in various cellular processes and technological applications. Dihedral angles are suitable conformational variables to describe microscopic conformations of a biomacromolecule. Here, we use the histograms of the dihedral angles to study the thermodynamics of conformational changes of a protein upon metal-ion binding. Our method applied to Ca2+ ion binding to an important metalloprotein, Calmodulin, reveals different thermodynamic changes in different metal-binding sites. The ligands coordinating to Ca2+ ions also play different roles in stabilizing the metal-ion coordinated protein-structure. Metal-ion binding induce remarkable thermodynamic changes in distant part of the protein via modification of secondary structural elements.