Surface-entropy reduction approaches to manipulate crystal forms of β-keto­acyl acyl carrier protein synthase II from Streptococcus pneumoniae

Surface-entropy reduction (SER) mutants of the FabF protein from S. pneumoniae were rationally designed to avoid the disruption of the presumably strong interfaces involved in the formation of a high-resolution (1.3 Å) crystal form while at the same time potentially destabilizing an undesirable crystal form. One of the mutant proteins yielded a new crystal form that diffracted to high resolution, underscoring the power of the SER approach in protein and crystal engineering.

Structures of potent selective peptide mimetics bound to carboxypeptidase B

A series of structures show the development of novel inhibitors of carboxypeptidase B. These inhibitors were designed to mimic peptide-based inhibitors of the protein.

Protein crystallography with a micrometre-sized synchrotron-radiation beam

For the first time, protein microcrystallography has been performed with a focused synchrotron-radiation beam of 1 µm using a goniometer with a sub-micrometre sphere of confusion. The crystal structure of xylanase II has been determined with a flux density of about 3 × 10¹⁰ photons s⁻¹ µm⁻² at the sample.

A novel method for detection of selenome­thionine incorporation in protein crystals via Raman microscopy

A novel methodological development for the analysis, via Raman microscopy, of SeMet-labelled protein crystals is presented.

Rapid and automated substructure solution by Shake-and-Bake

The computer program SnB, which implements the direct-methods Shake-and-Bake procedure and is part of the protein structure-determination package BnP, has recently been optimized in several ways for more rapid, automated substructure determination.

Structural studies show that the A178L mutation in the C-terminal hinge of the catalytic loop-6 of triosephosphate isomerase (TIM) induces a closed-like conformation in dimeric and monomeric TIM

Crystal structures of unliganded and liganded complexes of the A178L variant of dimeric and monomeric trypanosomal TIM are reported. The A178L point mutation changes the conserved sequence pattern of the C-terminal hinge of the catalytic loop-6. The point mutation causes differences in the apo structures but not in the liganded structures.

In situ X-ray analysis of protein crystals in low-birefringent and X-ray transmissive plastic microchannels

Plastic microchannel crystallization template designs made from inexpensive cyclic olefin copolymers have been shown to be low-birefringent, X-ray transmissive and compatible with microfluidic fabrication in restricted geometry. The model proteins thaumatin, lysozyme and bacteriorhodopsin demonstrated the feasibility of conducting counter-diffusion equilibration within the new plastic configuration.

Structural and functional analysis of the TetR-family transcriptional regulator SCO0332 from Streptomyces coelicolor

The crystal structure of SCO0332 was determined; functional analysis suggests that SCO0332 is a transcriptional repressor of the sco0330 gene.

Structure of Escherichia coli exonuclease I in complex with thymidine 5′-monophosphate

The structure of Escherichia coli exonuclease I in complex with a nucleotide product, thymidine 5′-monophos­phate, is described in an orthorhombic space group at 1.5 Å resolution.

High-resolution structure of me­thionine γ-lyase from Citrobacter freundii

The crystal structure of methionine γ-lyase from Citrobacter freundii was determined at 1.35 Å. The high-resolution structure makes it possible to analyze in detail interactions between monomers, a mode of the cofactor binding and participation of the protein flexible regions in substrate recognition and binding.

Alternative models for two crystal structures of Candida albicans 3,4-di­hydroxy-2-butanone 4-phosphate synthase

The noncrystallographic symmetry operations reported for two crystal structures of 3,4-dihydroxy-2-butanone 4-phosphate synthase can be reinterpreted as crystallographic operations.

Notes for authors 2008