Potassium articles within Nature Communications

Featured

• Article
  20 December 2023 | Open Access

  Monovalent metal ion binding promotes the first transesterification reaction in the spliceosome

  Hybrid QM/MM molecular dynamics simulations reveal that the kinetics and thermodynamics of the first splicing step are regulated by a K⁺ ion that facilitates optimal positioning of reactive moieties.

  • Jana Aupič
  • , Jure Borišek
  •  & Alessandra Magistrato

• Article
  08 January 2020 | Open Access

  Metal ions and sugar puckering balance single-molecule kinetic heterogeneity in RNA and DNA tertiary contacts

  Mobile group II introns function as ribozymes to splice and reinsert themselves into DNA, thereby colonizing new genomic regions. Here the authors use single-molecule FRET and molecular dynamics simulations to reveal a structural link between metal ion induced kinetic heterogeneity and the sugar puckers at the exon-intron binding interface.

  • Fabio D. Steffen
  • , Mokrane Khier
  •  & Roland K. O. Sigel

• Article
  07 June 2019 | Open Access

  Importance of potassium ions for ribosome structure and function revealed by long-wavelength X-ray diffraction

  Metal ions play essential roles in myriads of biological processes, from catalytic co-factors to supporting protein and nucleic acid structures. Here the authors use long-wavelength X-ray diffraction to locate hundreds of potassium ions taking part in the formation of rRNA tertiary structure, mediating rRNA–protein interactions and supporting ribosomal protein structures and function.

  • Alexey Rozov
  • , Iskander Khusainov
  •  & Gulnara Yusupova