Proteins can exhibit a significant degree of anion selectivity, but the factors underlying promiscuous anion coordination remain underexplored. Here, the authors study the Staphylococcus carnosus nitrate regulatory element A (ScNreA) as a model system and show that ScNreA complexation to nitrate, nitrite or iodide is an exothermic process controlled by the structural plasticity of the binding pocket.
- Ke Ji
- Elizabeth K. Pack
- Sheel C. Dodani
