One Is Not Enough

JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR BIOLOGY

卷:392

Article

Daber, Robert¹  Sharp, Kim¹  Lewis, Mitchell¹ 

[1] Univ Penn, Sch Med, Dept Biochem & Biophys, Philadelphia, PA 19104 USA

关键词: lac repressor;    allostery;    induction;    repression;    inducer binding;   

DOI  :  10.1016/j.jmb.2009.07.050

来源: Elsevier

【 摘 要 】

In both prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms, repressors and activators are responsible for regulating gene expression. The lac operon is a paradigm for understanding how metabolites function as signaling molecules and modulate transcription. These metabolites or allosteric effector molecules bind to the repressor and alter the conformational equilibrium between the induced and the repressed states. Here, we describe a set of experiments where we modified a single inducer binding site in a dimeric repressor and examined its effect on induction. Based upon these observations, we have been able to calculate the thermodynamic parameters that are responsible for the allosteric properties that govern repressor function. Understanding how effector molecules alter the thermodynamic properties of the repressor is essential for establishing a detailed understanding of gene regulation. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

【 授权许可】

Free