Structure Solution of the Fluorescent Protein Cerulean Using MeshAndCollect

X-ray crystallography is the major technique used to obtain high resolution information concerning the 3-dimensional structures of biological ...

Fully Autonomous Characterization and Data Collection from Crystals of Biological Macromolecules

High-brilliance X-ray beams coupled with automation have&#160;led to the use of synchrotron-based macromolecular X-ray crystallography (MX) beamlines for ...

Structural Biology Group

European Synchrotron Radiation Facility

ADP-ribosylation is a reversible and covalent post-translational modification in which the attachment of ADP-ribose is catalyzed by ADP-ribosyltransferases and the removal of ADP-ribose is catalyzed by ADP-ribosylhydrolases. ADP-ribosylhydrolase 3 from mouse, consisting of 347 amino-acid residues, has been cloned, purified and crystallized. The three-dimensional structure has been resolved at a resolution of 1.8 A. The structure constitutes a compact all-alpha-helical protein with two Mg(2+) ions located in the active-site crevice. A structural comparison of mouse ADP-ribosylhydrolase 3 with its human orthologue shows a high degree of structural similarity. Furthermore, four prokaryotic proteins deposited in the PDB could be identified as being structurally related.

Structure of mouse ADP-ribosylhydrolase 3 (mARH3).

This article describes , a software providing an intuitive graphical user interface (GUI) and multiple functions to perform hierarchical cluster analysis on multiple crystallographic datasets. The program makes it easier for users to choose, in the case of multi-crystal data collection, those datasets that will be merged together to give good final statistics. It provides a simple GUI to analyse the dendrogram and various options for automated clustering and data merging.

Hierarchical clustering for multiple-crystal macromolecular crystallography experiments: the  program.

ID30B is an undulator-based high-intensity, energy-tuneable (6.0-20 keV) and variable-focus (20-200 µm in diameter) macromolecular crystallography (MX) beamline at the ESRF. It was the last of the ESRF Structural Biology Group's beamlines to be constructed and commissioned as part of the ESRF's Phase I Upgrade Program and has been in user operation since June 2015. Both a modified microdiffractometer (MD2S) incorporating an in situ plate screening capability and a new flexible sample changer (the FlexHCD) were specifically developed for ID30B. Here, the authors provide the current beamline characteristics and detail how different types of MX experiments can be performed on ID30B (http://www.esrf.eu/id30b).

ID30B - a versatile beamline for macromolecular crystallography experiments at the ESRF.

The availability of genomic data from extinct homini such as Neanderthals has caused a revolution in palaeontology allowing the identification of modern human-specific protein substitutions. Currently, little is known as to how these substitutions alter the proteins on a molecular level. Here, we investigate adenylosuccinate lyase, a conserved enzyme involved in purine metabolism for which several substitutions in the modern human protein (hADSL) have been described to affect intelligence and behaviour. During evolution, modern humans acquired a specific substitution (Ala429Val) in ADSL distinguishing it from the ancestral variant present in Neanderthals (nADSL). We show here that despite this conservative substitution being solvent exposed and located distant from the active site, there is a difference in thermal stability, but not enzymology or ligand binding between nADSL and hADSL. Substitutions near residue 429 which do not profoundly affect enzymology were previously reported to cause neurological symptoms in humans. This study also reveals that ADSL undergoes conformational changes during catalysis which, together with the crystal structure of a hitherto undetermined product bound conformation, explains the molecular origin of disease for several modern human ADSL mutants.

Molecular comparison of Neanderthal and Modern Human adenylosuccinate lyase.

Human transthyretin (TTR) is implicated in several fatal forms of amyloidosis. Many mutations of TTR have been identified; most of these are pathogenic, but some offer protective effects. The molecular basis underlying the vastly different fibrillation behaviours of these TTR mutants is poorly understood. Here, on the basis of neutron crystallography, native mass spectrometry and modelling studies, we propose a mechanism whereby TTR can form amyloid fibrils via a parallel equilibrium of partially unfolded species that proceeds in favour of the amyloidogenic forms of TTR. It is suggested that unfolding events within the TTR monomer originate at the C-D loop of the protein, and that destabilising mutations in this region enhance the rate of TTR fibrillation. Furthermore, it is proposed that the binding of small molecule drugs to TTR stabilises non-amyloidogenic states of TTR in a manner similar to that occurring for the protective mutants of the protein.

Christoph Mueller-Dieckmann

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Structural Biology Group

Structure Solution of the Fluorescent Protein Cerulean Using MeshAndCollect

Fully Autonomous Characterization and Data Collection from Crystals of Biological Macromolecules

European Synchrotron Radiation Facility