The structure of DC-SIGNR with a portion of its repeat domain lends insights to modeling of the receptor tetramer

J Mol Biol. 2005 Apr 15;347(5):979-89. doi: 10.1016/j.jmb.2005.01.063.

Abstract

The dendritic cell-specific ICAM-3 non-integrin (DC-SIGN) and its close relative DC-SIGNR recognize various glycoproteins, both pathogenic and cellular, through the receptor lectin domain-mediated carbohydrate recognition. While the carbohydrate-recognition domains (CRD) exist as monomers and bind individual carbohydrates with low affinity and are permissive in nature, the full-length receptors form tetramers through their repeat domain and recognize specific ligands with high affinity. To understand the tetramer-based ligand binding avidity, we determined the crystal structure of DC-SIGNR with its last repeat region. Compared to the carbohydrate-bound CRD structure, the structure revealed conformational changes in the calcium and carbohydrate coordination loops of CRD, an additional disulfide bond between the N and the C termini of the CRD, and a helical conformation for the last repeat. On the basis of the current crystal structure and other published structures with sequence homology to the repeat domain, we generated a tetramer model for DC-SIGN/R using homology modeling and propose a ligand-recognition index to identify potential receptor ligands.

Publication types

  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Binding Sites
  • Calcium / metabolism
  • Carbohydrate Metabolism
  • Cell Adhesion Molecules / chemistry*
  • Cell Adhesion Molecules / genetics
  • Cell Adhesion Molecules / metabolism*
  • Crystallography, X-Ray
  • Humans
  • Lectins, C-Type / chemistry*
  • Lectins, C-Type / genetics
  • Lectins, C-Type / metabolism*
  • Ligands
  • Models, Molecular*
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Protein Binding
  • Protein Structure, Quaternary
  • Protein Structure, Tertiary
  • Receptors, Cell Surface / chemistry*
  • Receptors, Cell Surface / genetics
  • Receptors, Cell Surface / metabolism*
  • Sequence Alignment

Substances

  • CLEC4M protein, human
  • Cell Adhesion Molecules
  • Lectins, C-Type
  • Ligands
  • Receptors, Cell Surface
  • Calcium

Associated data

  • PDB/1XPH