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Background: The molecular description of oligomeric pore formation by B. thuringiensis insecticidal toxins remains unclear.Results: Cry4Ba mosquito-active toxins assemble into a stable prepore trimer upon interaction with non-ionic micelles or lipid membranes. Conclusion: A membrane-bound state of monomers is required for facilitating a potential trimer assembly. Significance: This study reveals a requirement of membrane-bound monomers for forming a prepore trimer capable of perturbing target membranes.

In addition to the receptor-binding domain (DII), the C-terminal domain (DIII) of three-domain Cry insecticidal d-endotoxins from Bacillus thuringiensis has been implicated in target insect specificity, yet its precise mechanistic role remains unclear. Here, the 21kDa high-purity isolated DIII fragment derived from the Cry4Ba mosquito-specific toxin was achieved via optimized preparative FPLC, allowing direct rendering analyses for binding characteristics toward its target receptor—Aedes aegypti membrane-bound alkaline phosphatase (Aa-mALP). Binding analysis via dotblotting revealed that the Cry4Ba-DIII truncate was capable of specific binding to nitrocellulose-bound Aa-mALP, with a binding signal comparable to its 65kDa Cry4Ba-R203Q full-length toxin. Further determination of binding affinity via sandwich ELISA revealed that Cry4Ba-DIII exhibited a rather weak binding to Aa-mALP with a dissociation constant (Kd) of ≈1.1 ×10−7 M as compared with the full-length toxin. Intermolecular docking between the Cry4Ba-R203Q active toxin and Aa-mALP suggested that four Cry4Ba-DIII residues, i.e., Glu522, Asn552, Asn576, and Leu615, are potentially involved in such toxin–receptor interactions. Ala substitutions of each residue (E522A, N552A, N576A and L615A) revealed that only the L615A mutant displayed a drastic decrease in biotoxicity against A. aegypti larvae. Additional binding analysis revealed that the L615A-impaired toxin also exhibited a reduction in binding capability to the surface-immobilized Aa-mALP receptor, while two bio-inactive DII-mutant toxins, Y332A and F364A, which almost entirely lost their biotoxicity, apparently retained a higher degree of binding activity. Altogether, our data disclose a functional importance of the C-terminal domain of Cry4Ba for serving as a potential receptor-binding moiety in which DIII-Leu615 could conceivably be exploited for the binding to Aa-mALP, highlighting its contribution to toxin interactions with such a target receptor in mediating larval toxicity.

To obtain a complete structure of the Bacillus thuringiensis Cry4Ba mosquito-larvicidal protein, a 65 kDa functional form of the Cry4Ba-R203Q mutant toxin was generated for crystallization by eliminating the tryptic cleavage site at Arg203. The 65 kDa trypsin-resistant fragment was purified and crystallized using the sitting-drop vapour-diffusion method. The crystals belonged to the rhombohedral space group R32, with unit-cell parameters a = b = 184.62, c = 187.36 A. Diffraction data were collected to at least 2.07 A resolution using synchrotron radiation and gave a data set with an overall R(merge) of 9.1% and a completeness of 99.9%. Preliminary analysis indicated that the asymmetric unit contained one molecule of the active full-length mutant, with a V(M) coefficient and solvent content of 4.33 A(3) Da(-1) and 71%, respectively.

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Although the C-terminal domain (DIII) of three-domain Cry insecticidal toxins from Bacillus thuringiensis has been implicated in various biological functions, its exact role still remains to be elucidated. Here, the 21-kDa isolated DIII fragment of the 65-kDa Cry4Ba mosquito-specific toxin was analyzed for its binding characteristics toward lipid-bilayer membranes. When the highly-purified Cry4Ba-DIII protein was structurally verified by attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy, it revealed the presence of a distinct β-sheet structure, corresponding to its structure embodied in the Cry4Ba crystal structure. Binding analysis via surface plasmon resonance (SPR) spectroscopy revealed that the 21-kDa Cry4Ba-DIII truncate displayed tight binding to immobilized liposome membranes in a two-step manner, exhibiting a dissociation rate constant (kd) comparable to the 65-kDa full-length toxin. Also similar to the Cry4Ba full-length toxin, its isolated DIII truncate was able to anchor a part of its molecule into the immobilized membrane as the SPR signal was still detected after prolonged treatment with proteinase K. However, unlike the full-length active toxin, the DIII truncate was unable to induce membrane permeability of calcein-loaded liposomes or ion-channel formation in planar lipid bilayers. Together, our present data have disclosed a pivotal role of C-terminal DIII in serving as a membrane anchor rather than a pore-forming moiety of the Cry4Ba mosquito-active toxin, highlighting its potential mechanistic contribution to the interaction of the full-length toxin with lipid membranes in mediating toxicity.

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