Evidence map›Paper›PMID 26301601›Full record

ArticleJournal of molecular biology2015

When the Scaffold Cannot Be Ignored: The Role of the Hydrophobic Core in Ligand Binding and Specificity.

Diana A Koulechova, Katherine W Tripp, Geoffrey Horner, Susan Marqusee

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of molecular biology, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
0.6field-weighted citation impact, top 30% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed, 16 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Targeting MarA N-terminal domain dynamics to prevent DNA binding.Protein science : a publication of the Protein Society · 2025
    Article
  3. Catalysis and Electron Transfer inChemical reviews · 2022
    Review
  4. Article
  5. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Diana A KoulechovaCalifornia Institute for Quantitative Biosciences- Berkeley, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-3220, USA; Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-3220, USA.
Katherine W TrippDepartment of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-3220, USA.
Geoffrey HornerCalifornia Institute for Quantitative Biosciences- Berkeley, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-3220, USA; Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-3220, USA.
Susan MarquseeCalifornia Institute for Quantitative Biosciences- Berkeley, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-3220, USA; Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-3220, USA. Electronic address: marqusee@berkeley.edu.
University of California, Berkeley · USQB3 · US

Funding

XRAY CRYSTALLOGRAPHIC STRUCTURE ANALYSIS: PROTEIN SORTINGP41RR001081 · NCRR · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · PI FERRIN, THOMAS E · 1985 to 2011
$17.6M
Sequence and Environmental Determinants of the Protein Energy LandscapeR01GM050945 · NIGMS · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY · PI MARQUSEE, SUSAN · 1999 to 2022
$7.4M
NCRR NIH HHS P41 RR001081NIGMS NIH HHS R01 GM050945
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The traditional view of protein-ligand binding treats a protein as comprising distinct binding epitopes on the surface of a degenerate structural scaffold, largely ignoring the impact of a protein's energy landscape. To determine the robustness of this simplification, we compared two small helix-turn-helix transcription factors with different energy landscapes. λ-Repressor is stable and well folded, while MarA appears to be marginally stable with multiple native conformations (molten). While λ-repressor is known to tolerate any hydrophobic mutation in the core, we find MarA drastically less tolerant to core mutation. Moreover, core mutations in MarA (distant from the DNA-binding interface) change the relative affinities of its binding partners, altering ligand specificity. These results can be explained by taking into account the effects of mutations on the entire energy landscape and not just the native state. Thus, for proteins with multiple conformations that are close in energy, such as many intrinsically disordered proteins, residues distant from the active site can alter both binding affinity and specificity.

Indexed as

ThermodynamicsCircular DichroismDNA-Binding ProteinsEscherichia coliEscherichia coli ProteinsHydrophobic and Hydrophilic InteractionsLigandsModels, MolecularProtein BindingProtein Structure, TertiaryRepressor ProteinsViral Regulatory and Accessory ProteinsDNA-Binding ProteinsEscherichia coli ProteinsLigandsMarA protein, E coliphage repressor proteinsRepressor ProteinsViral Regulatory and Accessory ProteinsDNA bindingenergy landscapehydrophobic coreligand binding

Identifiers

PMID26301601
PMCPMC4938156
OpenAlexW2204891302

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.