复杂物理因素调控的蛋白质功能结构形成、运动和相互作用

项目名称： 复杂物理因素调控的蛋白质功能结构形成、运动和相互作用

项目编号： No.11334004

项目类型： 重点项目

立项/批准年度： 2014

项目学科： 数理科学和化学

项目作者： 王炜

作者单位： 南京大学

项目金额： 320万元

中文摘要： 蛋白质分子是典型的软物质体系，其折叠、聚集、变构等功能结构形成和构象运动过程是生命系统的结构组织和功能执行中的关键环节。这些动力学过程受到金属离子、生物外力和复杂界面等物理因素的协同作用和调控，蕴含着丰富的物理内涵。这些物理因素是如何与蛋白质分子相互作用？通过怎样的物理机制调控蛋白质分子功能结构形成和构象运动？这些问题的研究是当前物理学与生物学交叉的前沿。本项目针对几个典型蛋白质体系，综合运用分子生物学实验技术、单分子实验手段和大规模模拟计算方法，围绕蛋白质功能结构形成和构象运动过程，系统研究金属离子、生物外力和纳米粒子与固体表面等多种物理因素的作用和影响，刻画相关动力学过程，分析和揭示其物理机制，建立相关物理因素调控下的蛋白质动力学的定量理论。从而深化对生物分子体系物理特性的认识，实现相关过程的定量刻画，并且对有关功能材料设计提供基础性参考。

中文关键词： 蛋白质结构;蛋白质结构变化;物理因素;单分子力谱;分子模拟

英文摘要： Protein molecules are a kind of typical soft condensed-matter systems. They undergo various structural changes for the formation of functional structure units and the execution of biological functions, including folding, aggregations, allosteric motions, and so on. These dynamic processes are under the cooperative and subtle regulations of various physical factors, such as metal ions, external forces, and complex interfaces and so on. The physical factors bring tremendous complexities to the structural changes of protein molecules, making such systems a fascinating research topic with rich physical contents. How do these physical factors interact with protein molecules? What are physical mechanisms that underlie the regulations of the structural formation and functional dynamics of proteins? The researches on these questions are the frontiers of the interdisciplinary studies between physics and biology. In our project, we will concentrate on several representative protein systems, and study the effects of several physical factors (including metal ions, external forces, and/or nano-scaled particles as well as complex interfaces) on the dynamics of structural formations and functional motions of proteins. Both experimental and simulation methods will be employed in our project, including the common molecular-biology techniques, single-molecular force spectroscopy, and various models and methods for large-scale molecular simulations. Through detailed characterizations on the dynamics of proteins and comprehensive analysis on the related physical mechanisms, we expect to establish a quantitative theory on how the concerned physical factors regulate the dynamics of proteins. These studies could deepen the understanding on the physical properties of biological macromolecules, realize the quantitative descriptions of related processes, and further bring some fundamental insights to the design of protein-based functional materials.

英文关键词： Protein structure;structural change of protein;physical factors ;molecular force spectroscopy;molecular simulation