The structure-function relationship analysis of Prismalin-14 from the prismatic layer of the Japanese pearl oyster, Pinctada fucata

FEBS J. 2007 Oct;274(19):5158-66. doi: 10.1111/j.1742-4658.2007.06036.x. Epub 2007 Sep 5.

Abstract

The mollusk shell is a hard tissue consisting of calcium carbonate and organic matrices. The organic matrices are considered to play important roles in shell formation. We have previously identified a prismatic layer-specific protein named Prismalin-14, which consists of 105 amino acid residues and includes four structurally characteristic regions; a repeated sequence of Pro-Ile-Tyr-Arg, a Gly/Tyr-rich region and N- and C-terminal Asp-rich regions. Prismalin-14 showed an inhibitory activity on calcium carbonate precipitation and a calcium-binding ability in vitro. In this study, we prepared some molecular species of recombinant proteins including Prismalin-14 and its truncated proteins in an Escherichia coli expression system to reveal a structure-function relationship of Prismalin-14. The results showed that the Gly/Tyr-rich region was responsible for chitin binding and was identified as a novel chitin-binding sequence. On the other hand, both N- and C-terminal Asp-rich regions are related to inhibitory activity on calcium carbonate precipitation in vitro. Immunohistological observation revealed that Prismalin-14 was localized at the acid-insoluble organic framework including chitin. All these results strongly suggest that Prismalin-14 is a framework protein that mediates chitin and calcium carbonate crystals by using its acidic and chitin-binding regions.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Animals
  • Base Sequence
  • Calcium Carbonate / chemistry
  • Chemical Precipitation
  • Chitin / metabolism
  • DNA Primers
  • Immunohistochemistry
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Ostreidae
  • Protein Binding
  • Proteins / chemistry
  • Proteins / isolation & purification
  • Proteins / metabolism*
  • Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
  • Structure-Activity Relationship

Substances

  • DNA Primers
  • Proteins
  • Chitin
  • Calcium Carbonate