Structural and dynamical properties of KTS-disintegrins: A comparison between Obtustatin and Lebestatin

Obtustatin and Lebestatin are lysine-threonine-serine (KTS)-disintegrins, which are a family of low molecular weight polypeptides present in many viperidae venoms and are potent and specific inhibitors of collagen-binding integrins. The integrin binding loop, harboring the (21)KTS(23) motif, and the C-terminal tail are known to be responsible for the selective binding to the α1β1 integrin. Despite a very high sequence homology (only two mutations are present in Lebestatin relative to Obtustatin, namely R24L and S38L), Lebestatin exhibits a higher inhibitory effect than Obtustatin on cell adhesion and cell migration to collagens I and IV. Here we show, by means of molecular dynamics simulations of the two polypeptides in aqueous solution, that Lebestatin possesses a higher flexibility of the C-terminal tail and a greater solvent accessibility of the integrin binding loop than Obtustatin. It may be hypothesized that these properties may contribute to the higher binding-affinity of Lebestatin to its biological partner.