Binding Site Selectivity of an Insect Gustatory Receptor

Authors:

Brooke DeJong, Rachelle Gaudet

Date Created:

2025-01-01

Course Title:

Professor:

Not specified

About Paper:

Insects, including economically important species like bees and transfected them into HEK293T cells. I have now started the silk moths and disease vectors like ticks and mosquitoes, use process of testing the effect of each mutation on the receptor’s ionotropic gustatory receptors for taste perception. One of these selectivity, by testing its activation by its native ligand, fructose, is BmGr9, the receptor that the domestic silk moth, Bombyx mori, and by other sugars with small chemical differences to fructose. uses to detect the sugar fructose. When bound to fructose, BmGr9, I measure each mutation’s selectivity to fructose by recording sendsamessagetothebraintoinformthesilkmothofthepresence calcium influx. The better the binding of fructose, the greater the of food. By determining how different mutations in the binding influx of calcium. I measure this using GCaMP6s, a genetically site of BmGr9, affect sugar selectivity, we can learn more about encoded calcium indicator. In the future, structural information the molecular basis of its function. Using the recently determined determined about BmGr9 could potentially be used to inform structure of BmGr9, I selected 25 mutations to test, based on theirapplications in pest management or disease vectors, as GRs can chemical interactions in and around the binding pocket. I then be used as a target for these. introduced these mutations to BmGr9, via quickchange PCR and

Abstract:

Insects, including economically important species like bees and transfected them into HEK293T cells. I have now started the silk moths and disease vectors like ticks and mosquitoes, use process of testing the effect of each mutation on the receptor’s ionotropic gustatory receptors for taste perception. One of these selectivity, by testing its activation by its native ligand, fructose, is BmGr9, the receptor that the domestic silk moth, Bombyx mori, and by other sugars with small chemical differences to fructose. uses to detect the sugar fructose. When bound to fructose, BmGr9, I measure each mutation’s selectivity to fructose by recording sendsamessagetothebraintoinformthesilkmothofthepresence calcium influx. The better the binding of fructose, the greater the of food. By determining how different mutations in the binding influx of calcium. I measure this using GCaMP6s, a genetically site of BmGr9, affect sugar selectivity, we can learn more about encoded calcium indicator. In the future, structural information the molecular basis of its function. Using the recently determined determined about BmGr9 could potentially be used to inform structure of BmGr9, I selected 25 mutations to test, based on theirapplications in pest management or disease vectors, as GRs can chemical interactions in and around the binding pocket. I then be used as a target for these. introduced these mutations to BmGr9, via quickchange PCR and

Source:

Harvard / Holly Curtis, Zarmik Moqtaderi, Kevin Struhl / 2025

Topics:

fructose, bmgr9, mutation, binding, selectivity, receptor, sugar, calcium, site, insect, gustatory, like

Co-authors:

@brookedejong269 , @rachellegaudet270