Structural highlights
Function
[ECP_HUMAN] Cytotoxin and helminthotoxin with low-efficiency ribonuclease activity. Possesses a wide variety of biological activities. Exhibits antibacterial activity, including cytoplasmic membrane depolarization of preferentially Gram-negative, but also Gram-positive strains. Promotes E.coli outer membrane detachment, alteration of the overall cell shape and partial loss of cell content.[1] [2]
Evolutionary Conservation
Check, as determined by ConSurfDB. You may read the explanation of the method and the full data available from ConSurf.
Publication Abstract from PubMed
Eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) is located in the matrix of the eosinophil's large specific granule and has marked toxicity for a variety of helminth parasites, hemoflagellates, bacteria, single-stranded RNA virus, and mammalian cells and tissues. It belongs to the bovine pancreatic ribonuclease A (RNase A) family and exhibits ribonucleolytic activity which is about 100-fold lower than that of a related eosinophil ribonuclease, the eosinophil-derived neurotoxin (EDN). The crystal structure of human ECP, determined at 2.4 A, is similar to that of RNase A and EDN. It reveals that residues Gln-14, His-15, Lys-38, Thr-42, and His-128 at the active site are conserved as in all other RNase A homologues. Nevertheless, evidence for considerable divergence of ECP is also implicit in the structure. Amino acid residues Arg-7, Trp-10, Asn-39, His-64, and His-82 appear to play a key part in the substrate specificity and low catalytic activity of ECP. The structure also shows how the cationic residues are distributed on the surface of the ECP molecule that may have implications for an understanding of the cytotoxicity of this enzyme.
Crystal structure of eosinophil cationic protein at 2.4 A resolution.,Boix E, Leonidas DD, Nikolovski Z, Nogues MV, Cuchillo CM, Acharya KR Biochemistry. 1999 Dec 21;38(51):16794-801. PMID:10606511[3]
From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
See Also
References
- ↑ Gabay JE, Scott RW, Campanelli D, Griffith J, Wilde C, Marra MN, Seeger M, Nathan CF. Antibiotic proteins of human polymorphonuclear leukocytes. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1989 Jul;86(14):5610-4. PMID:2501794
- ↑ Torrent M, de la Torre BG, Nogues VM, Andreu D, Boix E. Bactericidal and membrane disruption activities of the eosinophil cationic protein are largely retained in an N-terminal fragment. Biochem J. 2009 Jul 15;421(3):425-34. doi: 10.1042/BJ20082330. PMID:19450231 doi:10.1042/BJ20082330
- ↑ Boix E, Leonidas DD, Nikolovski Z, Nogues MV, Cuchillo CM, Acharya KR. Crystal structure of eosinophil cationic protein at 2.4 A resolution. Biochemistry. 1999 Dec 21;38(51):16794-801. PMID:10606511
