2lj7

Publication Abstract from PubMed

A new defensin Lc-def, isolated from germinated seeds of the lentil Lens culinaris, has molecular mass 5440.4Da and consists of 47 amino acid residues. Lc-def and its (15)N-labeled analog were overexpressed in Escherichia coli. Antimicrobial activity of the recombinant protein was examined, and its spatial structure, dynamics, and interaction with lipid vesicles were studied by NMR spectroscopy. It was shown that Lc-def is active against fungi, but does not inhibit the growth of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. The peptide is monomeric in aqueous solution and contains one alpha-helix and triple-stranded beta-sheet, which form cysteine-stabilized alphabeta motif (CSalphabeta) previously found in other plant defensins. The sterically neighboring loop1 and loop3 protrude from the defensin core and demonstrate significant mobility on the mus-ms timescale. Lc-def does not bind to the zwitterionic lipid (POPC) vesicles but interacts with the partially anionic (POPC/DOPG, 7:3) membranes under low-salt conditions. The Lc-def antifungal activity might be mediated through electrostatic interaction with anionic lipid components of fungal membranes.

Heterologous expression and solution structure of defensin from lentil Lens culinaris.,Shenkarev ZO, Gizatullina AK, Finkina EI, Alekseeva EA, Balandin SV, Mineev KS, Arseniev AS, Ovchinnikova TV Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2014 Aug 22;451(2):252-7. doi:, 10.1016/j.bbrc.2014.07.104. Epub 2014 Jul 30. PMID:25086358^[1]

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