1pxd

Publication Abstract from PubMed

The crystal structure of the complex of meso-tetrasulfonatophenylporphyrin (H(2)TPPS) with jack fruit (Artocarpus integriflora) agglutinin (jacalin) has been determined at 1.8 A resolution. A porphyrin pair is sandwiched between two symmetry-related jacalin monomers in the crystal, leading to a cross-linking network of protein molecules. Apart from the stacking interactions, H(2)TPPS also forms hydrogen bonds, some involving water bridges, with jacalin at the carbohydrate-binding site. The residues that are involved in rendering galactopyranoside specificity to jacalin undergo conformational adjustments in order to accommodate the H(2)TPPS molecule. The water molecules at the carbohydrate-binding site of jacalin cement the jacalin-porphyrin interactions, optimizing their complementarity. Interactions of porphyrin with jacalin are relatively weak compared with those observed between galactopyranoside and jacalin, perhaps because the former largely involves water-mediated hydrogen bonds. While H(2)TPPS binds to jacalin at the carbohydrate-binding site as in the case of ConA, its mode of interaction with jacalin is very different. H(2)TPPS does not enter the carbohydrate-binding cavity of jacalin. Instead, it sits over the binding site. While the porphyrin binding is mediated by replicating the hydrogen-bonding network of mannopyranoside through the sulfonate atoms in the case of ConA, the plasticity associated with the carbohydrate-binding site accommodates the pluripotent porphyrin molecule in the case of jacalin through an entirely different set of interactions.

Porphyrin binding to jacalin is facilitated by the inherent plasticity of the carbohydrate-binding site: novel mode of lectin-ligand interaction.,Goel M, Anuradha P, Kaur KJ, Maiya BG, Swamy MJ, Salunke DM Acta Crystallogr D Biol Crystallogr. 2004 Feb;60(Pt 2):281-8. Epub 2004, Jan 23. PMID:14747704^[1]

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