Electrostatic contributions to the binding free energy of the λcl repressor to DNA

A model based on the nonlinear Poisson-Boltzmann (NLPB) equation is used to study the electrostatic contribution to the binding free energy of the λcl repressor to its operator DNA. In particular, we use the Poisson- Boltzmann model to calculate the pK(a) shift of individual ionizable amino acids upon binding. We find that three residues on each monomer, Glu³⁴, Glu⁸³, and the amino terminus, have significant changes in their pK(a) and titrate between pH 4 and 9. This information is then used to calculate the pH dependence of the binding free energy. We find that the calculated pH dependence of binding accurately reproduces the available experimental data over a range of physiological pH values. The NLPB equation is then used to develop an overall picture of the electrostatics of the λcl repressor- operator interaction. We find that long-range Coulombic forces associated with the highly charged nucleic acid provide a strong driving force for the interaction of the protein with the DNA. These favorable electrostatic interactions are opposed, however, by unfavorable changes in the solvation of both the protein and the DNA upon binding. Specifically, the formation of a protein-DNA complex removes both charged and polar groups at the binding interface from solvent while it displaces salt from around the nucleic acid. As a result, the electrostatic contribution to the λcl repressor-operator interaction opposes binding by ~73 kcal/mol at physiological salt concentrations and neutral pH. A variety of entropic terms also oppose binding. The major force driving the binding process appears to be release of interfacial water from the protein and DNA surfaces upon complexation and, possibly, enhanced packing interactions between the protein and DNA in the interface. When the various nonelectrostatic terms are described with simple models that have been applied previously to other binding processes, a general picture of protein/DNA association emerges in which binding is driven by the nonpolar interactions, whereas specificity results from electrostatic interactions that weaken binding but are necessary components of any protein/DNA complex.