Structural characterization and evaluation of functional aspects of human galectins from tandem-repeat group

• Grant number: 10/16153-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: December 01, 2010
• End date: September 30, 2014
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Biophysics - Molecular Biophysics
• Principal Investigator: Maria Cristina Nonato
• Grantee: Joane Kathelen Rustiguel Bonalumi
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas de Ribeirão Preto (FCFRP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil

Abstract

From the broad spectrum of macromolecules, the lectins correspond to a proteic group related to the ability to recognize carbohydrates and glycoconjugates. From this group of proteins, the galectins display specific affinity for b-galactosides. Galectins are found in a variety of cell types and are involved in several biological phenomena including cell adhesion, tumor progression and metastasis. The structural and functional studies available for the lectins reveal that the ability of binding to carbohydrates is dependent on a domain defined as carbohydrate recognition domain (CRD). Based on the number and organization of the CRDs, members of the galectin family are classified in three subgroups: proto, chimera and tandem-repeat. The latter is composed of proteins with two CRDs with difference in terms of ligand specificity, located at the N- (CRD-1) e C- (CRD-2) terminal regions of the proteins connected by a peptide link. Our proposal aims to develop a multidisciplinary study on galectins from the tandem-repeat group, using the human proteins galectin-4 and galectin-12 as models, through the application of spectroscopic, crystallographic techniques associated to biological and cell location studies, to investigate the carbohydrate-dependent mechanisms that confer functional diversity for this class of proteins.

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

RUSTIGUEL, JOANE K.; SOARES, RICARDO O. S.; MEISBURGER, STEVE P.; DAVIS, KATHERINE M.; MALZBENDER, KRISTINA L.; ANDO, NOZOMI; DIAS-BARUFFI, MARCELO; NONATO, MARIA CRISTINA. Full-length model of the human galectin-4 and insights into dynamics of inter-domain communication. SCIENTIFIC REPORTS, v. 6, SEP 19 2016. (11/21811-1, 10/16153-2)

RUSTIGUEL, JOANE K.; KUMAGAI, PATRICIA S.; DIAS-BARUFFI, MARCELO; COSTA-FILHO, ANTONIO J.; NONATO, MARIA CRISTINA. Recombinant expression, purification and preliminary biophysical and structural studies of C-terminal carbohydrate recognition domain from human galectin-4. Protein Expression and Purification, v. 118, p. 39-48, FEB 2016. (11/21811-1, 11/21767-2, 10/17662-8, 10/16153-2)