Molecular Recognition of the Thomsen-Friedenreich Antigen–Threonine Conjugate by Adhesion/Growth Regulatory Galectin-3: Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Studies and Molecular Dynamics Simulations

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and molecular modeling methods have been strategically combined to elucidate the molecular recognition features of the binding of threonine O-linked Thomsen-Friedenreich (TF) antigen to chimera-type avian galectin-3 (CG-3). Saturation transfer difference (STD) NMR experiments revealed the highest intensities for the H4 protons of both the β-d-Galp and α-d-GalpNAc moieties, with 100 and 71% of relative STD, respectively. The methyl protons of the threonine residue exhibited a small STD effect,