issue contents
March 2011 issue
Cover illustration: Crystallographic tetramer of mouse galectin-4 carbohydrate recognition domain 1 is stabilized by a sodium cation located on the tetramer fourfold axis (p. 204). The carbohydrate binding site is occupied by a lactose molecule.
research papers
The crystal structures of long-type and short-type endonucleases IV were determined. These structures revealed that an additional C-terminal loop in the long type was responsible for its higher DNA-binding affinity.
The presented hits from a crystallographic fragment screen provide direct structural evidence for the primary tenet of fragment-based lead discovery: while low in potency, fragments form high-quality interactions and therefore present valid starting points for further optimization into drug-like molecules.
The structure of the Bacillus subtilis SPβ prophage dUTPase is described for the apo-enzyme and complexes with dUDP and the trinucleotide analogue dUpNHpp. The triphosphate moiety in the gauche conformation is needed to trigger conformational changes in the enzyme, including stacking of the Phe-lid over the uracil.
A fast, user-friendly and easily extensible beamline-control system based on a combination of Java Eclipse RCP and EPICS and featuring a user interface similar to that of the SSRL BluIce has been developed at the GM/CA-CAT macromolecular crystallography beamlines in Sector 23 of the Advanced Photon Source.
Two polymorphic crystals of the α-spectrin SH3 domain were obtained using the same crystallization conditions. The hexagonal polymorph represents a more thermodynamically stable form, whereas the orthorhombic form is the kinetically favoured form.
The structural characterization of CalO1 is reported.
PDB reference: CalO1, 3lst
The crystal structure of the mouse galectin-4 N-terminal domain CRD1 in complex with lactose was determined at 2.1 Å resolution. Lactose-binding studies together with the structural analysis provide a basis for understanding the mechanism for the recognition of complex sugars.
PDB reference: mouse galectin-4 N-terminal domain CRD1, 3i8t
The structure of the fimbriae-associated sortase AcSrtC-1 from A. oris has been determined to 2.4 Å resolution.
PDB reference: AcSrtC-1, 2xwg
The crystal structures of a mutant of E. corallodendron lectin in complex with galactose and N-acetylgalactosamine provide a structural view of an engineered carbohydrate-binding site of a legume lectin.
short communications
Using hybrid methods to solve the phase problem for a viral protein showing non-crystallographic symmetry.