issue contents
April 2016 issue
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Cover illustration: Structure of histone-like protein from Streptococcus mutans refined to 1.9 Å resolution (O'Neil et al., p. 257).
research communications
Streptococcal histone-like proteins (HLPs) are essential for bacterial survival. Here, the structure of S. mutans HLP was determined at 1.9 Å resolution.
PDB reference: S. mutans HLP, 5fbm
The methods used to clone, express, purify, crystallize and determine the phase of a full-length putative histone methyltransferase from yeast are described.
Crystal structures of a leucine-rich repeat domain of IpaH9.8 from S. flexneri were determined in two crystal forms: P212121 and C2221.
Calexcitin is a two-domain, neuron-specific signalling protein which possesses four EF-hand motifs, of which only the first three are functional metal-binding sites. Recombinant calexcitin from L. pealei has been crystallized with an equimolar concentration of Gd3+ in the presence of trace Ca2+, and it was demonstrated that it is the Ca2+ ion bound to the N-terminal EF-hand which becomes replaced by the exogenous heavy-metal ions.
PDB reference: calexcitin–Gd3+ complex, 5f6t
The isolation of bovine kidney Na+,K+-ATPase is presented, allowing the successful crystallization and crystal structure determination of an ouabain-bound E2–BeF3− complex.
PDB reference: Na+,K+-ATPase from bovine kidney, 4xe5
The production, crystallization and X-ray structure of a putative exo-β-1,3-galactanase from B. bifidum S17 (BbGal43A) are reported. BbGal43A is a putative single-domain enzyme from glycoside hydrolase family 43, which possibly acts as a dimer.
PDB reference: exo-β-1,3-galactanase, 5flw
The DNA-binding domain (DBD; residues 7–112) of human heat-shock factor 2 was purified and crystallized. An X-ray diffraction data set was collected to 1.32 Å resolution, which is suitable for the structure determination of the first mammalian heat-shock factor DBD at atomic resolution.
Crystal structures of L. mexicana arginase complexed with two α,α-disubstituted boronic amino-acid inhibitors were determined to resolutions of 1.28 and 1.65 Å, respectively.
A method of making crystal seed stocks for random microseed matrix screening in LCP is introduced with a practical example that shows that the number of crystallization hits can be increased. Furthermore, an enhancement of the method that generates seed gradients is demonstrated.
Open
access
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Crystallization via sandwiches of thin polymer films is presented and discussed.
Tankyrase 1 (TNKS1) regulates the activity of telomere repeat factor 1 (TRF1) through PARylation. Here, the crystal structure of a complex between TRF1 (residues 1–55) and the second and third ankyrin-repeat clusters of TNKS1 is presented.
PDB reference: TNKS1–TRF1 complex, 5hkp
Open
access
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The crystal structure of CotA complexed with 2,2-azinobis-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonate) in a hole motif has been solved; this novel binding site could be a potential structure-based target for protein engineering of CotA laccase.
letters to the editor
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The article, Crystal structure of HINT from Helicobacter pylori by Tarique et al. [(2016) Acta Cryst. F72, 42–48], and HINT nomenclature are discussed.
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A response to the article by Maize [(2016), Acta Cryst. F72, 336-337].