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Publication Abstract from PubMed

The navel orangeworm, Amyelois transitella is a major agricultural pest causing large losses in a variety of tree crops. Control of this insect pest may be achieved by interfering with olfactory pathways to block detection of female-produced sex pheromones and consequently, disrupt mating. The first component of this pathway is the pheromone-binding protein AtraPBP1, which recognizes the pheromone and presents it to the odorant receptor housed in a sensory neuron of the male antennae. Release of the ligand depends on a pH-induced conformational change associated with the acidity of the membrane surface. To characterize this conformational change and to understand how pheromones bind, we have determined the high resolution crystal structures of AtraPBP1 in complex with two main constituents of the sex pheromone, i.e., (11Z,13Z)-hexadecadienal and (11Z,13Z)-hexadecadienol. Comparison with the structure of the unliganded form demonstrates a large approximately 90 degrees movement of the C-terminal helix which is observed in other pheromone- or odorant-binding proteins accompanied by an unpredicted 37 degrees displacement of the N-terminal helix. Molecular dynamic trajectories suggest that the conformational change of the alpha1 helix facilitates the movement of the C-terminal helix.

Crystallographic Observation of pH-Induced Conformational Changes in the Amyelois transitella Pheromone-Binding Protein AtraPBP1.,di Luccio E, Ishida Y, Leal WS, Wilson DK PLoS One. 2013;8(2):e53840. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0053840. Epub 2013 Feb 13. PMID:23418423^[1]

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.