PA-IIL is a fucose-binding lectin from Pseudomonas aeruginosa that is closely related to the virulence factors of the bacterium. Previous structural studies have revealed a new carbohydrate-binding mode with direct involvement of two calcium ions (Mitchell E, Houles C, Sudakevitz D, Wimmerova M, Gautier C, Perez S, Wu AM, Gilboa-Garber N, Imberty A. Structural basis for selective recognition of oligosaccharides from cystic fibrosis patients by the lectin PA-IIL of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Nat Struct Biol 2002;9:918-921). A combination of thermodynamic, structural, and computational methods has been used to study the basis of the high affinity for the monosaccharide ligand. A titration microcalorimetry study indicated that the high affinity is enthalpy driven. The crystal structure of the tetrameric PA-IIL in complex with fucose and calcium was refined to 1.0 A resolution and, in combination with modeling, allowed a proposal to be made for the hydrogen-bond network in the binding site. Calculations of partial charges using ab initio computational chemistry methods indicated that extensive delocalization of charges between the calcium ions, the side chains of the protein-binding site and the carbohydrate ligand is responsible for the high enthalpy of binding and therefore for the unusually high affinity observed for this unique mode of carbohydrate recognition.
(c) 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc.