Biological Crystallography

Acta Cryst. (2008). D64, 1003-1011  [ doi:10.1107/S0907444908022713 ]

Structures and molecular-dynamics studies of three active-site mutants of bovine pancreatic phospholipase A₂

S. P. Kanaujia and K. Sekar

Synopsis: X-ray crystal structures have been obtained and molecular-dynamics simulations have been carried out for three active-site mutants (H48N, D49N and D49K) of bovine pancreatic phospholipase A₂. The active site is disturbed in the Asp49 mutant structures.

PDB references: 2zp4, 2zp3 and 2zp5

Online 19 September 2008

Acta Cryst. (2008). D64, 1012-1019  [ doi:10.1107/S0907444908024323 ]

Observation of a calcium-binding site in the -class carbonic anhydrase from Pyrococcus horikoshii

J. Jeyakanthan, S. Rangarajan, P. Mridula, S. P. Kanaujia, Y. Shiro, S. Kuramitsu, S. Yokoyama and K. Sekar

Synopsis: Three crystal structures of the -carbonic anhydrase enzyme from P. horikoshii were solved in space group F4₁32. The enzyme forms a -helix and each trimer is stacked in a tetrahedral manner in the crystal.

PDB references: 1v3w, 1v67 and 2fko

Online 19 September 2008

Acta Cryst. (2008). D64, 1020-1033  [ doi:10.1107/S0907444908023019 ]

Systematic study on crystal-contact engineering of diphthine synthase: influence of mutations at crystal-packing regions on X-ray diffraction quality

H. Mizutani, K. Saraboji, S. M. Malathy Sony, M. N. Ponnuswamy, T. Kumarevel, B. S. Krishna Swamy, D. K. Simanshu, M. R. N. Murthy and N. Kunishima

Synopsis: The influence of mutations in crystal-packing regions on X-ray diffraction quality was systematically examined.

PDB references: 1wng, 2dsg, 2dsh, 2z6r, 2dxv, 2dxw, 2e7r, 2dv5, 2dv4, 2ehc, 2e07, 2e08, 2egb, 2e16, 2dxx, 2ehl, 2egl, 2dsi, 2e17, 2e15, 2dv7 and 2egs

Online 19 September 2008

Acta Cryst. (2008). D64, 1034-1042  [ doi:10.1107/S0907444908023512 ]

Structures of pseudechetoxin and pseudecin, two snake-venom cysteine-rich secretory proteins that target cyclic nucleotide-gated ion channels: implications for movement of the C-terminal cysteine-rich domain

N. Suzuki, Y. Yamazaki, R. L. Brown, Z. Fujimoto, T. Morita and H. Mizuno

Synopsis: The structures of pseudechetoxin and pseudecin suggest that both proteins bind to cyclic nucleotide-gated ion channels in a manner in which the concave surface occludes the pore entrance.

PDB references: 2dda, 2ddb and 2epf

Online 19 September 2008

Acta Cryst. (2008). D64, 1043-1053  [ doi:10.1107/S090744490802444X ]

Nucleotide-binding flexibility in ultrahigh-resolution structures of the SRP GTPase Ffh

U. D. Ramirez, P. J. Focia and D. M. Freymann

Synopsis: Crystal structures of the Ffh NG GTPase domain at < 1.24 Å resolution reveal multiple overlapping nucleotide binding modes.

PDB references: 2c03 and 2c04

Online 19 September 2008

Acta Cryst. (2008). D64, 1054-1061  [ doi:10.1107/S0907444908025079 ]

Crystallization of proteins on functionalized surfaces

G. Tosi, S. Fermani, G. Falini, J. A. Gavira Gallardo and J. M. García Ruiz

Synopsis: The influence of surfaces exposing ionizable groups on the crystallization of model proteins has been investigated.

Online 19 September 2008

Acta Cryst. (2008). D64, 1062-1067  [ doi:10.1107/S0907444908025274 ]

Structure of an isolated unglycosylated antibody C_H2 domain

P. Prabakaran, B. K. Vu, J. Gan, Y. Feng, D. S. Dimitrov and X. Ji

Synopsis: The crystal structure of an isolated unglycosylated antibody C_H2 domain has been determined at 1.7 Å resolution.

PDB reference: 3dj9

Online 19 September 2008

Acta Cryst. (2008). D64, 1068-1077  [ doi:10.1107/S0907444908025948 ]

Structure of a haloacid dehalogenase superfamily phosphatase PH1421 from Pyrococcus horikoshii OT3: oligomeric state and thermoadaptation mechanism

H. Yamamoto, K. Takio, M. Sugahara and N. Kunishima

Synopsis: The crystal structure of PH1421, a phosphatase belonging to the haloacid dehalogenase superfamily, has been determined at 1.6 Å resolution. The structure reveals a dimeric state which may be important for the catalytic function of the enzyme.

PDB reference: 1wr8

Online 19 September 2008

Acta Cryst. (2008). D64, 1078-1091  [ doi:10.1107/S090744490802595X ]

Patterson-guided ab initio analysis of structures with helical symmetry

J. Kondo, L. Urzhumtseva and A. Urzhumtsev

Synopsis: Peaks in the Patterson maps help in finding molecular positions in the unit cell and assist in molecular-replacement solution in difficult cases for molecules with helical pseudosymmetry.

Online 19 September 2008