Increasing the Affinity of an O-Antigen Polysaccharide Binding Site in Shigella flexneri Bacteriophage Sf6 Tailspike Protein

• Broad and unspecific use of antibiotics accelerates spread of resistances. Sensitive and robust pathogen detection is thus important for a more targeted application. Bacteriophages contain a large repertoire of pathogen-binding proteins. These tailspike proteins (TSP) often bind surface glycans and represent a promising design platform for specific pathogen sensors. We analysed bacteriophage Sf6 TSP that recognizes the O-polysaccharide of dysentery-causing Shigella flexneri to develop variants with increased sensitivity for sensor applications. Ligand polyrhamnose backbone conformations were obtained from 2D H-1,H-1-trNOESY NMR utilizing methine-methine and methine-methyl correlations. They agreed well with conformations obtained from molecular dynamics (MD), validating the method for further predictions. In a set of mutants, MD predicted ligand flexibilities that were in good correlation with binding strength as confirmed on immobilized S. flexneri O-polysaccharide (PS) with surface plasmon resonance. In silico approaches combined with rapid screening on PS surfaces hence provide valuable strategies for TSP-based pathogen sensor design.

Subject headings

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Kemi -- Organisk kemi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Chemical Sciences -- Organic Chemistry (hsv//eng)

Keyword

carbohydrates

molecular dynamics simulations

NMR spectroscopy

protein-carbohydrate interactions

surface plasmon resonance

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)