title: Pulmonary surfactant protein B: a structural model and a functional analogue.
abstract: Surfactant proteins B and C (SP-B and SP-C), together with phospholipids, are important constituents of pulmonary surfactant and of preparations used for treatment of respiratory distress syndrome (RDS). SP-B belongs to the saposin family of homologous proteins, which include other lipid-interacting proteins, like the membranolytic NK-lysin. SP-B, in contrast to other saposins, is hydrophobic and a disulfide-linked dimer, and its mechanism of action is not known. A model of the three-dimensional structure of one SP-B subunit was generated from the structure of monomeric NK-lysin determined by nuclear magnetic resonance, and the SP-B dimer was formed by joining two subunits via the intersubunit disulfide bond Cys48-Cys48'. After energy minimization, intersubunit hydrogen bonds/ion pairs were formed between the strictly conserved residues Glu51 and Arg52, which creates a central non-polar region located in between two clusters of positively charged residues. The structural features support a function of SP-B in cross-linking of lipid membranes. Mixtures of phospholipids, an SP-C analogue and polymyxin B (which cross-links lipid vesicles but is structurally unrelated to SP-B) exhibit in vitro surface activity which is indistinguishable from that of analogous mixtures containing SP-B instead of polymyxin B. This suggests an avenue for identification of SP-B analogues that can be used in synthetic surfactants for treatment of RDS.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zaltash
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Palmblad
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Curstedt
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Johansson
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Persson
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D003432:Cross-Linking Reagents; D004285:Dogs; D006801:Humans; D008051:Lipid Bilayers / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010455:Peptides; D011112:Polymyxin B; D011510:Proteolipids / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D011663:Pulmonary Surfactants / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D011817:Rabbits; D051381:Rats; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship; D013552:Swine
chemical_list: D003432:Cross-Linking Reagents; D008051:Lipid Bilayers; D010455:Peptides; D011510:Proteolipids; D011663:Pulmonary Surfactants; D011112:Polymyxin B