Paper Citing NAMD - Abstract
van Eijk, Martin; Rynkiewicz, Michael J.; White, Mitchell R.; Hartshorn, Kevan L.; Zou, Xueqing; Schulten, Klaus; Luo, Dong; Crouch, Erika C.; Cafarella, Tanya R.; Head, James F.; Haagsman, Henk P.; Seaton, Barbara A.
A Unique Sugar-binding Site Mediates the Distinct Anti-influenza Activity of Pig Surfactant Protein D
JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY, 287:26666-26677, AUG 3 2012
Pigs can act as intermediate hosts by which reassorted influenza A virus (IAV) strains can be transmitted to humans and cause pandemic influenza outbreaks. The innate host defense component surfactant protein D (SP-D) interacts with glycans on the hemagglutinin of IAV and contributes to protection against IAV infection in mammals. This study shows that a recombinant trimeric neck lectin fragment derived from porcine SP-D (pSP-D) exhibits profound inhibitory activity against IAV, in contrast to comparable fragments derived from human SP-D. Crystallographic analysis of the pSP-D fragment complexed with a viral sugar component shows that a unique tripeptide loop alters the lectin site conformation of pSP-D. Molecular dynamics simulations highlight the role of this flexible loop, which adopts a more stable conformation upon sugar binding and may facilitate binding to viral glycans through contact with distal portions of the branched mannoside. The combined data demonstrate that porcine-specific structural features of SP-D contribute significantly to its distinct anti-IAV activity. These findings could help explain why pigs serve as important reservoirs for newly emerging pathogenic IAV strains.
