Ion Pair−π Interactions

Ion–Ion Interactions at the Selectivity Filter

In the Kv2.1 potassium channel, binding of K(+) to a high-affinity site associated with the selectivity filter modulates channel sensitivity to external TEA. In channels carrying Na(+) current, K(+) interacts with the TEA modulation site at concentrations </=30 microM. In this paper, we further characterized the TEA modulation site and examined how varying K(+) occupancy of the pore influenced ...

Understanding nucleic acid-ion interactions.

Ions surround nucleic acids in what is referred to as an ion atmosphere. As a result, the folding and dynamics of RNA and DNA and their complexes with proteins and with each other cannot be understood without a reasonably sophisticated appreciation of these ions' electrostatic interactions. However, the underlying behavior of the ion atmosphere follows physical rules that are distinct from the ...

Energetics of ion-protein interactions

In keeping with the goals of our laboratory, efforts in this thesis are directed towards improving our understanding, and therefore our ability to calculate, the energetics of protein-ligand interactions. Electrostatic contributions to protein-ligand binding events are poorly understood, and underrepresented in data sets used to parameterize the energetics of protein unfolding and binding. Ther...

Ion/polymer Interactions in Polyelectrolyte Gels

We report results from experimental studies performed on polyelectrolyte gels to understand the volume transition induced by multivalent cations. Macroscopic osmotic and mechanical measurements are made to determine the effect of ion binding on the elastic and mixing contributions of the network free energy. Small-angle neutron scattering is used to reveal the role of multivalent ions in the or...

Modeling the water-halide ion interactions