Issue 45, 2019

Dynamic water bridging and proton transfer at a surface carboxylate cluster of photosystem II

Abstract

Proton-transfer proteins are often exposed to the bulk clusters of carboxylate groups that might bind protons transiently. This raises important questions as to how the carboxylate groups of a protonated cluster interact with each other and with water, and how charged protein groups and hydrogen-bonded waters could have an impact on proton transfers at the cluster. We address these questions by combining classical mechanical and quantum mechanical computations with the analysis of cyanobacterial photosystem II crystal structures from Thermosynechococcus elongatus. The model system we use consists of an interface between PsbO and PsbU, which are two extrinsic proteins of photosystem II. We find that a protonated carboxylate pair of PsbO is part of a dynamic network of protein–water hydrogen bonds which extends across the protein interface. Hydrogen-bonded waters and a conserved lysine sidechain largely shape the energetics of proton transfer at the carboxylate cluster.

Graphical abstract: Dynamic water bridging and proton transfer at a surface carboxylate cluster of photosystem II

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
12 Jul 2019
Accepted
09 Oct 2019
First published
12 Nov 2019
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2019,21, 25449-25466

Dynamic water bridging and proton transfer at a surface carboxylate cluster of photosystem II

L. Kemmler, M. Ibrahim, H. Dobbek, A. Zouni and A. Bondar, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2019, 21, 25449 DOI: 10.1039/C9CP03926K

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