CHARACTERIZATION OF DIMETHYL SULFOXIDE BINDING SITES ON GLOBULAR TRIMERIC ADIPONECTIN

摘要

Secreted by the adipose tissue, adiponectin is an adipokine with unique anti-diabetic, anti-obesity and antiatherosclerosis properties. Adiponectin has been proposed as a drug target for treating obesity-related diseases and many existing drugs have been found to regulate circulating adiponectin levels in humans. The initial goal of this study was to characterize the binding of potential ligands to adiponectin. However, the binding site of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) was incidentally discovered by solution NMR. As the widely used solvent for many ligand binding assays, DMSO binding at the atomic level has never been reported. Our results indicate the necessity of characterizing the binding of DMSO prior to perfoming ligand binding assays.