Protein Electrostatics

Electrostatic interactions may be involved in:

• All stages of enzymatic catalysis (steering, binding, reaction mechanism).
• Non-substrate binding (ligand-receptor, drug-target, etc.)
• Redox processes (electron transport chains, etc.)

The electrostatic aspect is particularly evident in processes that consist essentially in modifications of electric charge:

• Protonation equilibrium (pH dependence of protein properties)
• Redox equilibrium (redox proteins)
• Electron-proton coupling (photosynthesis, cytochrome c oxidase, sulfate reduction)