issue contents

Journal logoBIOLOGICAL
CRYSTALLOGRAPHY
ISSN: 1399-0047

October 2009 issue

Highlighted illustration

Cover illustration: Illustrations of steps in ligand handling as a part of a crystallographic structure determination (p. 1074). A SMILES string in the top right defines the chemistry of the ligand. The same ligand is shown by the two-dimensional representation in the top left. Below this is an optimized three-dimensional structure over a background of the restraints file in CIF format based on semi-empirical quantum chemistry calculations. To the right is the refined ligand structure in omit density. The protein structure (human Factor Xa) and data were obtained from the Protein Data Bank, entry 3ens. eLBOW was used to generate the restraints for the FXa inhibitor (ENS). The original refinement is explained in Shi et al.(2008) J. Med. Chem. 51, 7541-7551.

research papers


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The crystal structure of human dual-specificity phosphatase 14, DUSP14 (MKP6), in complex with a phosphate ion has been determined and refined to 1.88 Å resolution.

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APS kinase from Thiobacillus denitrificans contains an inactive N-terminal ATP sulfurylase domain. The structure presented unveils the first hexameric assembly for an APS kinase, and reveals that structural changes in the N-terminal domain disrupt the ATP sulfurylase active site thus prohibiting activity.

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New classes of helix–helix interactions in protein structures are reported in which interactions only occur at the terminal regions or between the terminal region of one helix and the middle region of another helix.

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The charge balance and hydrogen-bonding network at the core of the insulin T6 hexamer have been investigated by neutron diffraction analysis at 2.1 Å resolution.

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The application of a multivariate likelihood function to a single isomorphous replacement with anomalous scattering experiment improves phasing and automated model building with iterative refinement in the test cases shown.

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The effects of commonly encountered impurities on various membrane-protein crystallization regimes are investigated and it is found that the lipidic cubic phase crystallization methodology is the most robust, tolerating protein contamination levels of up to 50%, with little effect on crystal quality. If generally applicable, this tolerance may be exploited (i) in initial crystallization trials to determine the `crystallizability' of a given membrane-protein and (ii) to subject partially pure membrane-protein samples to crystallization trials.


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The crystal structure of PCNA from the halophilic archaeon H. volcanii reveals specific features of the charge distribution on the protein surface that reflect adaptation to a high-salt environment and suggests a different type of interaction with DNA in halophilic PCNAs.

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The combination of molecular replacement and single-wavelength anomalous diffraction improves the performance of automated structure determination with Auto-Rickshaw.

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The structures of five forms of D-alanine-D-alanine ligase from T. thermophilus HB8 showed a cumulative conformational change of the molecular structure through the induced rotation of the central domain in concert with a local conformational change of three loops. The active-site structures shed light on the catalytic mechanism and the roles of the conformational change.

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A new algorithm that automatically models discrete heterogeneity in X-ray data demonstrates that the variability observed at high resolution can be adequately represented by including correlated structural features in protein models. The algorithm is based on simultaneous exploration of a very large number of alternative interpretations of electron-density maps.

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The crystal structure of tear lipocalin determined in space group P21 revealed large structural deviations from the previously solved X-ray structure in space group C2, especially in the loop region and adjoining parts of the β-barrel which give rise to the ligand-binding site. These findings illustrate a novel mechanism for promiscuity in ligand recognition by the lipocalin protein family.
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