Department of Physics, Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, Carl-von-Ossietzky Straße 9-11, Oldenburg 26129, Germany.
Institute of Avian Research, An der Vogelwarte 21, Wilhelmshaven 26386, Germany.
J Phys Chem B. 2022 Jun 30;126(25):4623-4635. doi: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.2c00878. Epub 2022 Jun 15.
A recent study by Xu et al. (, , 594, 535-540) provided strong evidence that cryptochrome 4 (Cry4) is a key protein to endow migratory birds with the magnetic compass sense. The investigation compared the magnetic field response of Cry4 from migratory and nonmigratory bird species and suggested that a difference in magnetic sensitivity could exist. This finding prompted an in-depth investigation into Cry4 protein differences on the structural and dynamic levels. In the present study, the pigeon Cry4 (Cry4) crystal structure was used to reconstruct the missing avian Cry4 protein structures via homology modeling for carefully selected bird species. The reconstructed Cry4 structure from European robin, Eurasian blackcap, zebra finch, chicken, and pigeon were subsequently simulated dynamically and analyzed. The studied avian Cry4 structures show flexibility in analogous regions pointing to similar activation mechanisms and/or signaling interaction partners. It can be concluded that the experimentally recorded difference in the magnetic field sensitivity of Cry4 from different birds is unlikely to be due to solely intrinsic dynamics of the proteins but requires additional factors that have not yet been identified.
最近，徐等人的一项研究（,,, 594, 535-540）提供了有力的证据，表明隐花色素 4（Cry4）是赋予候鸟磁罗盘感的关键蛋白。该研究比较了来自候鸟和非候鸟物种的 Cry4 的磁场反应，并提出了磁敏感性可能存在差异的观点。这一发现促使对 Cry4 蛋白在结构和动态水平上的差异进行深入研究。在本研究中，使用鸽子 Cry4（Cry4）晶体结构通过同源建模来重建经过精心挑选的鸟类物种中缺失的禽 Cry4 蛋白结构。随后对来自欧洲知更鸟、欧亚鸲、斑胸草雀、鸡和鸽子的重建 Cry4 结构进行了动力学模拟和分析。研究中鸟类的 Cry4 结构在类似区域表现出灵活性，表明存在类似的激活机制和/或信号相互作用伙伴。可以得出结论，来自不同鸟类的 Cry4 的磁场敏感性的实验记录差异不太可能仅仅是由于蛋白质的固有动力学造成的，而是需要尚未确定的其他因素。
