Mesoscopic model and free energy landscape for protein-DNA binding sites: analysis of cyanobacterial promoters.

Autor: Rafael Tapia-Rojo, Juan José Mazo, José Ángel Hernández, María Luisa Peleato, María F Fillat, Fernando Falo
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2014
Předmět:
Zdroj: PLoS Computational Biology, Vol 10, Iss 10, p e1003835 (2014)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 1553-734X
1553-7358
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1003835
Popis: The identification of protein binding sites in promoter sequences is a key problem to understand and control regulation in biochemistry and biotechnological processes. We use a computational method to analyze promoters from a given genome. Our approach is based on a physical model at the mesoscopic level of protein-DNA interaction based on the influence of DNA local conformation on the dynamics of a general particle along the chain. Following the proposed model, the joined dynamics of the protein particle and the DNA portion of interest, only characterized by its base pair sequence, is simulated. The simulation output is analyzed by generating and analyzing the Free Energy Landscape of the system. In order to prove the capacity of prediction of our computational method we have analyzed nine promoters of Anabaena PCC 7120. We are able to identify the transcription starting site of each of the promoters as the most populated macrostate in the dynamics. The developed procedure allows also to characterize promoter macrostates in terms of thermo-statistical magnitudes (free energy and entropy), with valuable biological implications. Our results agree with independent previous experimental results. Thus, our methods appear as a powerful complementary tool for identifying protein binding sites in promoter sequences.
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals