Crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction analysis of Salmonella typhimurium uridine phosphorylase complexed with 5-fluorouracil

Uridine phosphorylase (UPh; EC 2.4.2.3) catalyzes the phosphorolytic cleavage of the N-glycosidic bond of uridine to form ribose 1-phosphate and uracil. This enzyme also activates pyrimidine-containing drugs, including 5-fluorouracil (5-FU). In order to better understand the mechanism of the enzyme–drug interaction, the complex of Salmonella typhimurium UPh with 5-FU was cocrystallized using the hanging-drop vapour-diffusion method at 294 K. X-ray diffraction data were collected to 2.2 Å resolution. Analysis of these data revealed that the crystal belonged to space group C2, with unit-cell parameters a = 158.26, b = 93.04, c = 149.87 Å, α = γ = 90, β = 90.65°. The solvent content was 45.85% assuming the presence of six hexameric molecules of the complex in the unit cell.