Tertiary structure and molecular modeling of insect neuropeptides

1.用核磁共振法测定了蚕蛹素的三级结构。通过对蚕蚕素与胰岛素嵌合分子的生物测定，发现b链的中心部分TyrB6-LeuB18对蚕蚕素的活性起重要作用。对这些嵌合分子的溶液结构测定表明，它们的b链中心部分具有相似的主链构象，但在分子表面形成不同的斑块。因此，蚕蛹素b链中心部分形成的表面斑块对蚕蛹素受体的识别至关重要。PTTH的核磁共振数据显示，PTTH的中心部分具有刚性结构，富含β -薄片。PTTH的计算机分子模拟表明，PTTH有两个b-片，属于胱氨酸结超家族。

1.The tertiary structure of bombyxin was determined by the NMR method.2.From the bioassay of chimeric molecules of bombyxin and insulin, the central part of B-chain, TyrB6-LeuB18, is found to be very important for bombyxin activity.3.Solution structure determination of these chimeric molecules revealed that their B-chain central parts took similar main-chain conformation, but formed dissimilar patches on their molecular surface. Therefore, the surface patch formed by the central part of the bombyxin B-chain is of critical importance for recognition of bombyxin receptor.4.NMR data of PTTH revealed that the central part of PTTH has rigid structure and is rich in beta-sheet.5.Molecular modeling of PTTH by computer suggested that PTTH has two b-sheets and is belong to the cystine knot superfamily.