Simulations of cellulose translocation in the bacterial cellulose synthase suggest a regulatory mechanism for the dimeric structure of cellulose.

ABSTRACT: The processive cycle of the bacterial cellulose synthase (Bcs) includes the addition of a single glucose moiety to the end of a growing cellulose chain followed by the translocation of the nascent chain across the plasma membrane. The mechanism of this translocation and its precise location within the processive cycle are not well understood. In particular, the molecular details of how a polymer (cellulose) whose basic structural unit is a dimer (cellobiose) can be constructed by adding one monomer (glucose) at a time are yet to be elucidated. Here, we have utilized molecular dynamics simulations and free energy calculations to the shed light on these questions. We find that translocation forward by one glucose unit is quite favorable energetically, giving a free energy stabilization of gr

SUBMITTER: Knott BC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4849487 | biostudies-literature | 2016 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature