Dermatophagoides farinae is one of the major house dust mite (HDM) species that cause allergic diseases. N-terminally His-tagged recombinant Der f 21 (rDer f 21), a group 21 allergen, with the signal peptide truncated was successfully overexpressed in an Escherichia coli expression system. The purified rDer f 21 protein was initially crystallized using the sitting-drop vapour-diffusion method. Well diffracting protein crystals were obtained after optimization of the crystallization conditions using the hanging-drop vapour-diffusion method with a reservoir solution consisting of 0.19 M Tris-HCl pH 8.0, 32% PEG 400 at 293 K. X-ray diffraction data were collected to 1.49 Å resolution using an in-house X-ray source. The crystal belonged to the C-centered monoclinic space group C2, with unit-cell parameters a = 123.46, b = 27.71, c = 90.25 Å, β = 125.84°. The calculated Matthews coefficient (VM) of 2.06 Å(3) Da(-1) suggests that there are two molecules per asymmetric unit, with a solvent content of 40.3%. Despite sharing high sequence identity with Blo t 5 (45%) and Blo t 21 (41%), both of which were determined to be monomeric in solution, size-exclusion chromatography, static light scattering and self-rotation function analysis indicate that rDer f 21 is likely to be a dimeric protein.
C1ORF123 is a human hypothetical protein found in open reading frame 123 of chromosome 1. The protein belongs to the DUF866 protein family comprising eukaryote-conserved proteins with unknown function. Recent proteomic and bioinformatic analyses identified the presence of C1ORF123 in brain, frontal cortex and synapses, as well as its involvement in endocrine function and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), indicating the importance of its biological role. In order to provide a better understanding of the biological function of the human C1ORF123 protein, the characterization and analysis of recombinant C1ORF123 (rC1ORF123), including overexpression and purification, verification by mass spectrometry and a Western blot using anti-C1ORF123 antibodies, crystallization and X-ray diffraction analysis of the protein crystals, are reported here. The rC1ORF123 protein was crystallized by the hanging-drop vapor-diffusion method with a reservoir solution comprised of 20% PEG 3350, 0.2 M magnesium chloride hexahydrate, 0.1 M sodium citrate pH 6.5. The crystals diffracted to 1.9 Å resolution and belonged to an orthorhombic space group with unit-cell parameters a = 59.32, b = 65.35, c = 95.05 Å. The calculated Matthews coefficient (VM) value of 2.27 Å(3) Da(-1) suggests that there are two molecules per asymmetric unit, with an estimated solvent content of 45.7%.
TylP is one of five regulatory proteins involved in the regulation of antibiotic (tylosin) production, morphological and physiological differentiation in Streptomyces fradiae. Its function is similar to those of various γ-butyrolactone receptor proteins. In this report, N-terminally His-tagged recombinant TylP protein (rTylP) was overproduced in Escherichia coli and purified to homogeneity. The rTylP protein was crystallized from a reservoir solution comprising 34%(v/v) ethylene glycol and 5%(v/v) glycerol. The protein crystals diffracted X-rays to 3.05 Å resolution and belonged to the trigonal space group P3121, with unit-cell parameters a = b = 126.62, c = 95.63 Å.
Fuculose-1-phosphate aldolase (FucA) catalyses the reversible cleavage of L-fuculose 1-phosphate to dihydroxyacetone phosphate (DHAP) and L-lactaldehyde. This enzyme from mesophiles and thermophiles has been extensively studied; however, there is no report on this enzyme from a psychrophile. In this study, the gene encoding FucA from Glaciozyma antarctica PI12 (GaFucA) was cloned and the enzyme was overexpressed in Escherichia coli, purified and crystallized. The tetrameric structure of GaFucA was determined to 1.34 Å resolution. The overall architecture of GaFucA and its catalytically essential histidine triad are highly conserved among other fuculose aldolases. Comparisons of structural features between GaFucA and its mesophilic and thermophilic homologues revealed that the enzyme has typical psychrophilic attributes, indicated by the presence of a high number of nonpolar residues at the surface and a lower number of arginine residues.
Galactose-binding and mannose-binding lectins from the champedak fruit, which is native to South-east Asia, exhibit useful potential clinical applications. The specificity of the two lectins for their respective ligands allows the detection of potential cancer biomarkers and monitoring of the glycosylated state of proteins in human serum and/or urine. To fully understand and expand the use of these natural proteins, their complete sequences and crystal structures are presented here, together with details of sugar binding.
HU proteins belong to the nucleoid-associated proteins (NAPs) that are involved in vital processes such as DNA compaction and reparation, gene transcription etc. No data are available on the structures of HU proteins from mycoplasmas. To this end, the HU protein from the parasitic mycoplasma Spiroplasma melliferum KC3 was cloned, overexpressed in Escherichia coli and purified to homogeneity. Prismatic crystals of the protein were obtained by the vapour-diffusion technique at 4°C. The crystals diffracted to 1.36 Å resolution (the best resolution ever obtained for a HU protein). The diffraction data were indexed in space group C2 and the structure of the protein was solved by the molecular-replacement method with one monomer per asymmetric unit.
Melioidosis is an infectious disease caused by the pathogenic bacterium Burkholderia pseudomallei. Whole-genome sequencing revealed that the B. pseudomallei genome includes 5855 coding DNA sequences (CDSs), of which ∼25% encode hypothetical proteins. A pathogen-associated hypothetical protein, BPSL1038, was overexpressed in Escherichia coli, purified and crystallized using vapour-diffusion methods. A BPSL1038 protein crystal that grew using sodium formate as precipitant diffracted to 1.55 Å resolution. It belonged to space group C2221, with unit-cell parameters a = 85.36, b = 115.63, c = 46.73 Å. The calculated Matthews coefficient (VM) suggests that there are two molecules per asymmetric unit, with a solvent content of 48.8%.
Burkholderia pseudomallei is the causative agent of the lethal disease melioidosis. This bacterium infects animals and humans and is increasingly resistant to multiple antibiotics. Recently, genes associated with survival of the bacterium in the infected host have been identified. One of these genes, bpsl0741, is annotated as a hypothetical protein of 185 amino acids. Here, recombinant BPSL0741 (rBPSL0741) protein was expressed, purified, verified by mass spectrometry, crystallized and analyzed by X-ray diffraction. rBPSL0741 was crystallized by vapor diffusion using a reservoir solution consisting of 0.2 M ammonium acetate, 0.1 M sodium acetate trihydrate pH 4.6, 30% PEG 4000. The crystals diffracted to 2.1 Å resolution using an in-house X-ray diffractometer and belonged to an orthorhombic space group, with unit-cell parameters a = 62.92, b = 64.57, c = 89.16 Å. The Matthews coefficient (VM) was calculated to be 2.18 Å3 Da-1, suggesting the presence of two molecules per asymmetric unit and an estimated solvent content of 43.5%. The crystal was deemed to be suitable for further structural studies, which are currently ongoing.