title: Structure of the snake-venom toxin convulxin.
abstract: Snake venoms contain a number of proteins that interact with components of the haemostatic system that promote or inhibit events leading to blood-clot formation. The snake-venom protein convulxin (Cvx) binds glycoprotein (GP) VI, the platelet receptor for collagen, and triggers signal transduction. Here, the 2.7 A resolution crystal structure of Cvx is presented. In common with other members of this snake-venom protein family, Cvx is an alphabeta-heterodimer and conforms to the C-type lectin-fold topology. Comparison with other family members allows a set of Cvx residues that form a concave surface to be putatively implicated in GPVI binding. Unlike other family members, with the exception of flavocetin-A (FL-A), Cvx forms an (alphabeta)(4) tetramer. This oligomeric structure is consistent with Cvx clustering GPVI molecules on the surface of platelets and as a result promoting signal transduction activity. The Cvx structure and the location of the putative binding sites suggest a model for this multimeric signalling assembly.
authors.affiliation: Cancer Research UK Receptor Structure Group, Division of Structural Biology, University of Oxford, The Henry Wellcome Building for Genomic Medicine, Roosevelt Drive, Headington, Oxford OX3 7BN, England.
authors.forename: Thil
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Batuwangala
authors.forename: Mireille
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Leduc
authors.forename: Jonathan M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Gibbins
authors.forename: Cassian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bon
authors.forename: E Yvonne
authors.initials: EY
authors.lastname: Jones
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D003435:Crotalid Venoms / Q000737:chemistry*; D017839:Crotalus; D018360:Crystallography, X-Ray; D037181:Lectins, C-Type / Q000737:chemistry*; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010980:Platelet Membrane Glycoproteins / Q000378:metabolism; D016415:Sequence Alignment
chemical_list: D003435:Crotalid Venoms; D037181:Lectins, C-Type; D010980:Platelet Membrane Glycoproteins; C028890:convulxin