Department of Biology, Institute of Molecular Biology and Biophysics, ETH Zurich, Otto-Stern-Weg 5, Zurich, 8093, Switzerland.
Imaging Centre, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Meyerhofstraße 1, 69117, Heidelberg, Germany.
Nat Commun. 2020 Dec 8;11(1):6267. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-20135-x.
Royal jelly (RJ) is produced by honeybees (Apis mellifera) as nutrition during larval development. The high viscosity of RJ originates from high concentrations of long lipoprotein filaments that include the glycosylated major royal jelly protein 1 (MRJP1), the small protein apisimin and insect lipids. Using cryo-electron microscopy we reveal the architecture and the composition of RJ filaments, in which the MRJP1 forms the outer shell of the assembly, surrounding stacked apisimin tetramers harbouring tightly packed lipids in the centre. The structural data rationalize the pH-dependent disassembly of RJ filaments in the gut of the larvae.
蜂王浆（RJ）是由蜜蜂（Apis mellifera）在幼虫发育过程中作为营养物质产生的。RJ 的高粘度源于长脂蛋白细丝的高浓度，这些细丝包括糖基化的主要蜂王浆蛋白 1（MRJP1）、小蛋白apisimin 和昆虫脂质。使用冷冻电子显微镜，我们揭示了 RJ 细丝的结构和组成，其中 MRJP1 形成组装体的外壳，围绕着中心紧密堆积脂质的堆叠 apisimin 四聚体。结构数据合理地解释了幼虫肠道中 RJ 细丝对 pH 值变化的不稳定性。
