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Published on: September 18, 2019
Intramolecular cross-linking in the native JHBP molecule
Dominika Bystranowska1, Zbigniew Szewczuk, Marek Lisowski
1Department of Biochemistry, Wrocław University of Technology, Wrocław, Poland.
Juvenile hormone binding protein (JHBP) exhibits unusual fluorescence due to dityrosine cross-linking, not tryptophan. This cross-linking, detected in native and recombinant JHBP, is likely formed via reactive oxygen species in insect hemolymph.
Area of Science:
- Biochemistry
- Insect Physiology
- Protein Chemistry
Background:
- Juvenile hormone binding protein (JHBP) is essential for insect development, transporting crucial hormones.
- JHBP lacks tryptophan residues but shows unexpected fluorescence at 420nm when excited at 315nm.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the source of unusual optical properties in JHBP.
- To determine the molecular mechanism behind JHBP's fluorescence.
Main Methods:
- Gel filtration chromatography under denaturing conditions
- Electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS)
- UV and Circular Dichroism (CD) spectroscopy
- Immunoblotting
- Peptide mass spectrometry after proteolysis
Main Results:
- ESI-MS and gel filtration ruled out low molecular weight ligands.
- Spectroscopic and immunoblotting studies identified intramolecular dityrosine cross-linking as the cause of fluorescence.
- Dityrosine bridges were found in both native and recombinant JHBP.
- Mass spectrometry pinpointed the dityrosine cross-link between tyrosine residues Y128 and Y130.
- Reactive oxygen species (ROS)-mediated oxidation is proposed as the mechanism for dityrosine formation in Galleria mellonella hemolymph.
Conclusions:
- The unexpected fluorescence of JHBP is attributed to intramolecular dityrosine cross-linking.
- This dityrosine cross-linking occurs between specific tyrosine residues (Y128-Y130).
- ROS-mediated oxidation is the likely pathway for dityrosine bridge formation in insect hemolymph, impacting JHBP structure and function.
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