2h0b: Difference between revisions

[[Image:2h0b.gif|left|200px]]<br /><applet load="2h0b" size="350" color="white" frame="true" align="right" spinBox="true"  

Neurexins mediate protein interactions at the synapse, playing an essential role in synaptic function. Extracellular domains of neurexins, and their fragments, bind a distinct profile of different proteins regulated by alternative splicing and Ca2+. The crystal structure of n1alpha_LNS#2 (the second LNS/LG domain of bovine neurexin 1alpha) reveals large structural differences compared with n1alpha_LNS#6 (or n1beta_LNS), the only other LNS/LG domain for which a structure has been determined. The differences overlap the so-called hyper-variable surface, the putative protein interaction surface that is reshaped as a result of alternative splicing. A Ca2+-binding site is revealed at the center of the hyper-variable surface next to splice insertion sites. Isothermal titration calorimetry indicates that the Ca2+-binding site in n1alpha_LNS#2 has low affinity (Kd approximately 400 microm). Ca2+ binding ceases to be measurable when an 8- or 15-residue splice insert is present at the splice site SS#2 indicating that alternative splicing can affect Ca2+-binding sites of neurexin LNS/LG domains. Our studies initiate a framework for the putative protein interaction sites of neurexin LNS/LG domains. This framework is essential to understand how incorporation of alternative splice inserts expands the information from a limited set of neurexin genes to produce a large array of synaptic adhesion molecules with potentially very different synaptic function.

2H0B is a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_protein Single protein] structure of sequence from [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bos_taurus Bos taurus] with <scene name='pdbligand=CA:'>CA</scene> and <scene name='pdbligand=GOL:'>GOL</scene> as [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ligands ligands]. Full crystallographic information is available from [http://oca.weizmann.ac.il/oca-bin/ocashort?id=2H0B OCA].  

[[Category: Sheckler, L R.]]

[[Category: Sudhof, T C.]]

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