Question

how does manganese bind to proteins? does manganese bind to other biopolymers? if so, how?

Answer 1

Manganese helps with amino acid and protein utilization and digestion, and metabolism of carbohydrates and cholesterol. It helps the body to utilize a number of vitamins like thiamine, choline, and vitamins C and E, and secures proper liver function.

Generally, the three “major binders” of ions are:-

• Oxygen atoms from carboxyl groups of aspartic acids side chains.
• Oxygen atoms from carboxyl groups of glutamic acids side chains.
• Imidazole nitrogen atom from the histidine side chain.

The “minor binders” of ions are:-

• Oxygen atoms from hydroxyl groups of threonine and serine side chains.
• Amide oxygen and nitrogen atoms from glutamine and asparagine side chains.
• Sulfur atoms from thiol group of thioether and cysteine group of methionine.
• Oxygen atoms from peptide bonds of all the amino acids (including hydrophobic ones also).

According to Zheng, there are three amino acid residues majorly found in binding sites- His, Asp, and Glu; where glutamic acid has the lowest normalized frequency, and histidine has the highest frequency among those three amino acid residues in binding sites. On the contrary, the work of Brylinski and Skolnick suggests that aspartic acid has a greater preference to bind than histidine and glutamic acid.