Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Wallace JA
PROVIDER: S-EPMC3410443 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Mar
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
The journal of physical chemistry letters 20120215 5
When the major ampulate spidroins (MaSp1) are called upon to form spider dragline silk, one of nature's most amazing materials, a small drop in pH must occur. Using a state-of-the-art simulation technique, constant pH molecular dynamics, we discovered a few residues that respond to the pH signal in the dimerization of the N-terminal domain (NTD) of MaSp1 which is an integral step in the fiber assembly. At neutral pH the deprotonation of Glu79 and Glu119 leads to water penetration and structural ...[more]