Primary Citation of Related Structures:   2DTW, 2DTY, 2DU0, 2DU1
PubMed Abstract: 
The crystal structure of the complexes of basic winged-bean lectin with galactose, 2-methoxygalactose, N-acetylgalactosamine and methyl-alpha-N-acetylgalactosamine have been determined. Lectin-sugar interactions involve four hydrogen bonds and a stacking interaction in all of the complexes ...
The crystal structure of the complexes of basic winged-bean lectin with galactose, 2-methoxygalactose, N-acetylgalactosamine and methyl-alpha-N-acetylgalactosamine have been determined. Lectin-sugar interactions involve four hydrogen bonds and a stacking interaction in all of the complexes. In addition, an N-H...O hydrogen bond involving the hydroxyl group at C2 exists in the galactose and 2-methoxygalactose complexes. An additional hydrophobic interaction involving the methyl group in the latter leads to the higher affinity of the methyl derivative. In the lectin-N-acetylgalactosamine complex the N-H...O hydrogen bond is lost, but a compensatory hydrogen bond is formed involving the O atom of the acetamido group. In addition, the CH(3) moiety of the acetamido group is involved in hydrophobic interactions. Consequently, the 2-methyl and acetamido derivatives of galactose have nearly the same affinity for the lectin. The methyl group alpha-linked to the galactose takes part in additional hydrophobic interactions. Therefore, methyl-alpha-N-acetylgalactosamine has a higher affinity than N-acetylgalactosamine for the lectin. The structures of basic winged-bean lectin-sugar complexes provide a framework for examining the relative affinity of galactose and galactosamine for the lectins that bind to them. The complexes also lead to a structural explanation for the blood-group specificity of basic winged-bean lectin.
Related Citations: 
Carbohydrate specificity and quaternary association in basic winged bean lectin: X-ray analysis of the lectin at 2.5 A resolution Prabu, M.M., Sankaranarayanan, R., Puri, K.D., Sharma, V., Surolia, A., Vijayan, M., Suguna, K. (1998) J Mol Biol 276: 787
Structural basis for the specificity of basic winged bean lectin for the Tn-antigen: a crystallographic, thermodynamic and modelling study Kulkarni, K.A., Surolia, A., Vijayan, M., Suguna, K. (2005) FEBS Lett 579: 6775
Structure of basic winged-bean lectin and a comparison with its saccharide-bound form Manoj, N., Srinivas, V.R., Surolia, A., Vijayan, M., Suguna, K. (1999) Acta Crystallogr D Biol Crystallogr 55: 794
Organizational Affiliation: 
Molecular Biophysics Unit, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India.