title: Curculin, a sweet-tasting and taste-modifying protein, is a non-functional mannose-binding lectin.
abstract: A three-dimensional model of curculin, a sweet-tasting and taste-modifying protein from the fruits of Curculigo latifolia, was built from the X-ray coordinates of GNA, a mannose-binding lectin from snowdrop (Galanthus nivalis). The three mannose-binding sites present in GNA were found in curculin but are devoid of mannose-binding activity as shown by docking experiments performed with mannose. Some regions well exposed on the surface of the three-dimensional model of curculin could act as epitopes responsible for the sweet-tasting properties of this protein.
authors.affiliation: Institut de Pharmacologie et Biologie Structurale, UPR CNRS 9062, Faculté des Sciences Pharmaceutiques, Toulouse, France.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Barre
authors.forename: E J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Van Damme
authors.forename: W J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Peumans
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rougé
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D003198:Computer Simulation; D027801:Galanthus; D037102:Lectins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D008358:Mannose / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D037241:Mannose-Binding Lectins; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D037121:Plant Lectins; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship; D013549:Sweetening Agents / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D013649:Taste / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D037102:Lectins; D037241:Mannose-Binding Lectins; D037121:Plant Lectins; D010940:Plant Proteins; D013549:Sweetening Agents; C065630:curculin; C063117:snowdrop lectin; D008358:Mannose