Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-22dnz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-27T12:01:44.087Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

NMR characterization of a pH-dependent equilibrium between two folded solution conformations of the pheromone-binding protein from Bombyx mori

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 May 2000

FRED DAMBERGER
Affiliation:
Institut für Molekularbiologie und Biophysik, Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Hönggerberg, CH-8093 Zürich, Switzerland
LARISA NIKONOVA
Affiliation:
National Institute of Sericultural and Entomological Science, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305, Japan
RETO HORST
Affiliation:
Institut für Molekularbiologie und Biophysik, Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Hönggerberg, CH-8093 Zürich, Switzerland
GUIHONG PENG
Affiliation:
National Institute of Sericultural and Entomological Science, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305, Japan
WALTER SOARES LEAL
Affiliation:
National Institute of Sericultural and Entomological Science, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305, Japan Current address: Department of Entomology, University of California at Davis, Davis, California 95616.
KURT WÜTHRICH
Affiliation:
Institut für Molekularbiologie und Biophysik, Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Hönggerberg, CH-8093 Zürich, Switzerland
Get access

Abstract

NMR spectroscopic changes as a function of pH in solutions of the pheromone-binding protein of Bombyx mori (BmPBP) show that BmPBP undergoes a conformational transition between pH 4.9 and 6.0. At pH below 4.9 there is a single “acid form” (A), and a homogeneous “basic form” (B) exists at pH above 6.0. Between pH 5 and 6, BmPBP exists as a mixture of A and B in slow exchange on the NMR chemical shift time scale, with the transition midpoint at pH 5.4. The form B has a well-dispersed NMR spectrum, indicating that it represents a more structured, “closed” conformation than form A, which has a significantly narrower chemical shift dispersion. Conformational transitions of the kind observed here may explain heterogeneity reported for a variety of odorant-binding proteins, and it will be of interest to further investigate possible correlations with pH-dependent regulation of ligand binding and release in the biological function of this class of proteins.

Type
FOR THE RECORD
Copyright
2000 The Protein Society

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)