Structural characteristics of tenecin 3, an insect antifungal protein.
Tenecin 3, an antifungal protein, previously isolated from the insect Tenebrio molitor, inhibits growth of the fungus Candida albicans. However, the antifungal mechanism and functions of tenecin 3 remain unknown. As an initial step to study the mechanism and functions, physical and structural properties of tenecin 3 were examined by circular dichroism (CD) analysis and 2D nuclear overhauser effect spectroscopy. These analyses suggest that tenecin 3 has a propensity of random structure with very loose turn-like elements. The CD results also indicate that this random structural propensity is not significantly affected by temperature, pH, and by the presence of organic solvents or sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) micelles. However, the hydrodynamic studies suggest that tenecin 3 is not in extended form in spite of its random structural feature.
Lee
Y T
YT
Department of Chemistry, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Taejon, Korea.
Kim
D H
DH
Suh
J Y
JY
Chung
J H
JH
Lee
B L
BL
Lee
Y
Y
Choi
B S
BS
D000818:Animals; D000935:Antifungal Agents / Q000737:chemistry*; D002176:Candida albicans / Q000187:drug effects; D002850:Chromatography, Gel; D002942:Circular Dichroism; D019476:Insect Proteins / Q000737:chemistry*; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D008970:Molecular Weight; D017433:Protein Structure, Secondary; D013712:Tenebrio / Q000737:chemistry*; D014270:Trifluoroethanol
D000935:Antifungal Agents; D019476:Insect Proteins; C097837:tenecin 3 protein, Tenebrio molitor; D014270:Trifluoroethanol