Hydrogen bonds proton path active site

Although the secrets of maximal rates of proton conduction are well illustrated in gA, multifunctional proteins that couple H+ conduction to other events do not exhibit well-formed, proton-conducting hydrogen bond networks. Indeed, in the bacterial reaction center the putative active path is poorly connected by hydrogen bonds detectable in the best current X-ray structures (2.2 A resolution Stowell et al., 1997). Paddock et al. (1999) have shown that chemical blockage or a simple mutational lesion of this active path diminishes proton transfer rates by at least 1000-fold. Thus, the several well-connected (but not quite continuous) files of water that are seen in the X-ray structures, reaching toward the Qg site from the cytoplasmic side, do not conduct protons at significant rates. 

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