Many-body effect determines the selectivity for Ca2+ and Mg2+ in proteins [Biophysics and Computational Biology]

Calcium ion is a versatile messenger in many cell-signaling processes. To achieve their functions, calcium-binding proteins selectively bind Ca2+ against a background of competing ions such as Mg2+. The high specificity of calcium-binding proteins has been intriguing since Mg2+ has a higher charge density than Ca2+ and is expected to...
Source: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - Category: Science Authors: Tags: PNAS Plus Source Type: research
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