1. In silico structural characteristics and α-amylase inhibitory properties of Ric c 1 and Ric c 3, allergenic 2S albumins from Ricinus communis seeds.
- Author
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Do Nascimento VV, Castro HC, Abreu PA, Oliveira AE, Fernandez JH, Araújo Jda S, and Machado OL
- Subjects
- 2S Albumins, Plant metabolism, 2S Albumins, Plant pharmacology, Amino Acid Sequence, Animals, Antigens, Plant metabolism, Antigens, Plant pharmacology, Ricinus communis metabolism, Coleoptera chemistry, Enzyme Inhibitors metabolism, Enzyme Inhibitors pharmacology, Insect Proteins chemistry, Insect Proteins metabolism, Kinetics, Molecular Sequence Data, Seeds chemistry, Seeds metabolism, Sequence Alignment, alpha-Amylases chemistry, alpha-Amylases metabolism, 2S Albumins, Plant chemistry, Antigens, Plant chemistry, Ricinus communis chemistry, Coleoptera enzymology, Enzyme Inhibitors chemistry, Insect Proteins antagonists & inhibitors, alpha-Amylases antagonists & inhibitors
- Abstract
The major Ricinus communis allergens are the 2S albumins, Ric c 1 and Ric c 3. These proteins contain a trypsin/α-amylase inhibitor family domain, suggesting that they have a role in insect resistance. In this study, we verified that Ric c 1 and Ric c 3 inhibited the α-amylase activity of Callosobruchus maculatus, Zabrotes subfasciatus, and Tenebrio molitor (TMA) larvae as well as mammalian α-amylase. The toxicity of 2S albumin was determined through its incorporation in C. maculatus larvae as part of an artificial diet. Bioassays revealed that 2S albumin reduced larval growth by 20%. We also analyzed the tridimensional structures of Ric c 1 and Ric c 3 by (a) constructing a comparative model of Ric c 1 based on Ric c 3 NMR structure and (b) constructing the theoretical structure of the Ric c 1-TMA and Ric c 3-TMA complexes. Our biological and theoretical results revealed that Ric c 1 and Ric c 3 are a new class of α-amylase inhibitors. They could potentially be used to help design inhibitors that would be useful in diverse fields, ranging from diabetes treatment to crop protection.
- Published
- 2011
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