Membrane Protein Structure and Dynamics

Fanelli F, Francesca Fanelli

This article describes a computational strategy aimed at studying the structural communication in G-Protein Coupled Receptors (GPCRs) and G proteins. The strategy relies on comparative Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations and analyses of wild-type (i.e., reference state) vs. mutated (i.e., perturbed state), or free (i.e., reference state) vs. bound (i.e., perturbed state) forms of a GPCR or a G protein. Bound forms of a GPCR include complexes with small ligands and/or receptor dimers/oligomers, whereas bound forms of heterotrimeric GDP-bound G proteins concern the complex with a GPCR. The computational strategy includes structure prediction of a receptor monomer (in the absence of high-resolution structure), a receptor dimer/oligomer, and a receptor-G protein complex, which constitute the inputs of MD simulations. Finally, the analyses of the MD trajectories are instrumental in inferring the structural/dynamics differences between reference and perturbed states of a GPCR or a G protein. In this respect, focus will be put on the analysis of protein structure networks and communication paths.