Tararat Khaokhiew. Mutagenic analysis of surface-exposed loop residues in the receptor-binding domain of the bacillus thuringiensis cry4Ba toxin. Doctoral Degree(Medical Technology). Mahidol University. Mahidol University Library and Knowledge Center. : Mahidol University, 2008.
Mutagenic analysis of surface-exposed loop residues in the receptor-binding domain of the bacillus thuringiensis cry4Ba toxin
Abstract:
Critical surface-exposed loop residues (Pro389 in the β6-β7 loop, Glu417 in the β8β9 loop, Tyr455
and Asn456 in the β10-β11 loop) in the receptor-binding domain of the Bacillus thuringiensis
Cry4Ba toxin have been demonstrated to be involved in larvicidal activity. The extended
mutagenic analysis in this study was carried out to investigate a correlative effect among these
critical loop residues on Cry4Ba toxicity. Several different double-loop mutants,
P389A/E417A (β6-β7/β8-β9 loops), P389A/Y455A, P389A/N456A (β6-β7/β10-β11 loops),
E417A/Y455A and E417A/N456A (β8-β9/β10-β11 loops) were constructed via PCR-based
mutagenesis and subsequently were highly expressed in Escherichia coli as 130-kDa
protoxins at levels comparable to the wild type toxin. Each double mutant toxin was
determined their toxicity against Aedes aegypti mosquito larvae. An almost complete loss in
larvicidal activity was observed from all these double mutant toxins. Using
immunohistochemical staining with a Cry4Ba specific monoclonal antibody, the double
mutant toxins were able to bind to the apical microvilli of the susceptible A. aegypti larval
midguts, albeit at lower-binding activity compared to the full-length active toxin. In addition,
it was observed via electrochemical sensor that E417A/Y455A double-loop mutant was able
to insert and permeabilize the liposomes leading to the release of the entrapped redox species
comparable to the Cry4Ba wild-type. Therefore, the dramatic loss of larvicidal activity of
E417A/Y455A is likely due to inability to bind to their receptors rather than to pore-forming
activity. This study demonstrated that these critical loop residues in Cry4Ba-domain II: Pro389
in β6-β7 loop, Glu417 in β8-β9 loop, Tyr455 and Asn456 in β10-β11 loop are dependently involved
in Cry4Ba-receptor binding activity. These results also imply that the Cry4Ba-domain II
activity requires more than one loop for the receptor-binding process. It is conceivable that
the Cry4Ba-domain II could be divided into two sub-domains. The first sub-domain would
consist of the residues which are located on the β2 to β5 (2 loops-β2-β3/ β4-β5) and the other
sub-domain would consist of the residues from β1 to α8 and β6 to β11 (4 loops-β1-α8/ β6-β7/ β8-
β9/ β10-β11).