2XYT

Crystal structure of Aplysia californica AChBP in complex with d- tubocurarine

Summary for 2XYT

• Entry DOI: 10.2210/pdb2xyt/pdb
• Related: 2BR7 2BR8 2BYN 2BYP 2BYQ 2BYR 2BYS 2C9T 2UZ6 2W8F 2W8G 2WN9 2WNC 2WNJ 2WNL 2WZY 2X00 2XNT 2XNU 2XNV 2XYS 2Y7Y
• Descriptor: SOLUBLE ACETYLCHOLINE RECEPTOR, D-TUBOCURARINE (3 entities in total)
• Functional Keywords: receptor, amidation, conformational flexibility, conotoxin, neurotoxin nicotinic, postsynaptic neurotoxin, receptor-toxin complex
• Biological source: APLYSIA CALIFORNICA (CALIFORNIA SEA HARE)
• Total number of polymer chains: 10
• Total formula weight: 249939.48

Authors

Brams, M.,Pandya, A.,Kuzmin, D.,van Elk, R.,Krijnen, L.,Yakel, J.L.,Tsetlin, V.,Smit, A.B.,Ulens, C. (deposition date: 2010-11-19, release date: 2011-03-23, Last modification date: 2023-12-20)

Primary citation

Brams, M.,Pandya, A.,Kuzmin, D.,Van Elk, R.,Krijnen, L.,Yakel, J.L.,Tsetlin, V.,Smit, A.B.,Ulens, C.
A Structural and Mutagenic Blueprint for Molecular Recognition of Strychnine and D-Tubocurarine by Different Cys-Loop Receptors.
Plos Biol., 9:1034-, 2011

PubMed Abstract: Cys-loop receptors (CLR) are pentameric ligand-gated ion channels that mediate fast excitatory or inhibitory transmission in the nervous system. Strychnine and d-tubocurarine (d-TC) are neurotoxins that have been highly instrumental in decades of research on glycine receptors (GlyR) and nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChR), respectively. In this study we addressed the question how the molecular recognition of strychnine and d-TC occurs with high affinity and yet low specificity towards diverse CLR family members. X-ray crystal structures of the complexes with AChBP, a well-described structural homolog of the extracellular domain of the nAChRs, revealed that strychnine and d-TC adopt multiple occupancies and different ligand orientations, stabilizing the homopentameric protein in an asymmetric state. This introduces a new level of structural diversity in CLRs. Unlike protein and peptide neurotoxins, strychnine and d-TC form a limited number of contacts in the binding pocket of AChBP, offering an explanation for their low selectivity. Based on the ligand interactions observed in strychnine- and d-TC-AChBP complexes we performed alanine-scanning mutagenesis in the binding pocket of the human α1 GlyR and α7 nAChR and showed the functional relevance of these residues in conferring high potency of strychnine and d-TC, respectively. Our results demonstrate that a limited number of ligand interactions in the binding pocket together with an energetic stabilization of the extracellular domain are key to the poor selective recognition of strychnine and d-TC by CLRs as diverse as the GlyR, nAChR, and 5-HT(3)R.

PubMed: 21468359
DOI: 10.1371/JOURNAL.PBIO.1001034

Experimental method

X-RAY DIFFRACTION (2.05 Å)