H NMR study of the interaction of N,N′,N″-triacetyl chitotriose with Ac-AMP2, a sugar binding antimicrobial protein isolated from Amaranthus caudatus

The interaction between Ac-AMP2, a lectin-like small protein with antimicrobial and antifungal activity isolated from Amaranthus caudatus, and N,N′,N″-triacetyl chitotriose was studied using ¹H NMR spectroscopy. Changes in chemical shift and line width upon increasing concentration of N,N′,N″-triacetyl chitotriose to Ac-AMP2 solutions at pH 6.9 and 2.4 were used to determine the interaction site and the association constant K_a. The most pronounced shifts occur mainly in the C-terminal half of the sequence. They involve the aromatic residues Phe¹⁸, Tyr²⁰ and Tyr²⁷ together with their surrounding residues, as well as the N-terminal Val-Gly-Glu segment. Several NOEs between Ac-AMP2 and the N,N′,N″-triacetyl chitotriose resonances are reported.