Monosaccharide binding

Abstract: The structure of the methyl-alpha-D-mannopyranoside-LOL I complex has been solved by the molecular replacement method using the refined saccharide-free LOL I coordinates as starting model. The methyl-alpha-D-mannopyranoside-LOL I complex was refined by simulated annealing using the program X-PLOR. The final R-factor value is 0.182 [Fo greater than 1 sigma(Fo)]. The isostructural methyl-alpha-D-glucopyranoside-LOL I complex was refined by X-Ray coupled energy minimization using the methyl-alpha-D-mannopyranoside-LOL I structure as a starting model to an R factor of 0.179 (all data). In both crystal forms, each dimer binds two molecules of sugar in pockets found near the calcium ions. The two saccharide moieties, which are in the C1 chair conformation, establish the same hydrogen bond pattern with the lectin. However, the van der Waals contacts are different between the O2, C2, C6, and O6 atoms of the two molecules and the backbone atoms of residues 208-211. Mannose, due to its axial C2 conformation, encloses the backbone atoms of the protein in a clamplike way. Van der Waals energy calculations suggest that this better complementarity of the mannoside molecule with the lectin could explain its higher affinity for isolectin I.

Abstract: The binding of the mannose/glucose specific lectins from Canavalia ensiformis (concanavalin A) and Dioclea grandiflora to a series of C-glucosides were studied by titration microcalorimetry and fluorescence anisotropy titration. These closely related lectins share a specificity for the trimannoside methyl 3,6-di-O-(alpha-D-mannopyranosyl)-alpha-D-mannopyranoside, and are a useful model system for addressing the feasibility of differentiating between lectins with overlapping carbohydrate specificities. The ligands were designed to address two issues: (1) how the recognition properties of non-hydrolyzable C-glycoside analogues compare with those of the corresponding O-glycosides and (2) the effect of presentation of more than one saccharide recognition epitope on both affinity and specificity. Both lectins bind the C-glycosides with affinities comparable to those of the O-glycoside analogues; however, the ability of both lectins to differentiate between gluco and manno diastereomers was diminished in the C-glycoside series. Bivalent norbornyl C-glycoside esters were bound by the lectin from Canavalia but only weakly by the lectin from Dioclea. In addition to binding the bivalent ligands, concanavalin A discriminated between C-2 epimers, with the manno configuration binding more tightly than the gluco. The stoichiometry of binding of the bivalent ligands to both di- and tetrameric lectin was two binding sites per ligand, rather than the expected 1:1 stoichiometry. Together, these results suggest that concanavalin A may possess more than one class of carbohydrate binding sites and that these additional sites show stereochemical discrimination similar to that of the previously identified monosaccharide binding site. The implications of these findings for possible in vivo roles of plant lectins and for the use of concanavalin A as a research tool are discussed.