skip to main content
US FlagAn official website of the United States government
dot gov icon
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
https lock icon
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( lock ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.


Search for: All records

Creators/Authors contains: "Pezzella, Marco"

Note: When clicking on a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) number, you will be taken to an external site maintained by the publisher. Some full text articles may not yet be available without a charge during the embargo (administrative interval).
What is a DOI Number?

Some links on this page may take you to non-federal websites. Their policies may differ from this site.

  1. The local hydration around tetrameric hemoglobin (Hb) in its T0 and R4 conformational substates is analyzed based on molecular dynamics simulations. Analysis of the local hydrophobicity (LH) for all residues at the α1β2 and α2β1 interfaces, responsible for the quaternary T → R transition, which is encoded in the Monod–Wyman–Changeux model, as well as comparison with earlier computations of the solvent accessible surface area, makes clear that the two quantities measure different aspects of hydration. Local hydrophobicity quantifies the presence and structure of water molecules at the interface, whereas “buried surface” reports on the available space for solvent. For simulations with Hb frozen in its T0 and R4 states, the correlation coefficient between LH and buried surface is 0.36 and 0.44, respectively, but it increases considerably if the 95% confidence interval is used. The LH with Hb frozen and flexible changes little for most residues at the interfaces but is significantly altered for a few select ones: Thr41α, Tyr42α, Tyr140α, Trp37β, Glu101β (for T0) and Thr38α, Tyr42α, Tyr140α (for R4). The number of water molecules at the interface is found to increase by ∼25% for T0 → R4, which is consistent with earlier measurements. Since hydration is found to be essential to protein function, it is clear that hydration also plays an essential role in allostery. 
    more » « less
  2. null (Ed.)