We thank the staff at the beamline X06DA at the Swiss Light Source, Paul-Scherrer-Institute, Villigen, Switzerland for support during synchrotron data collection. We are grateful to Monika Gompert for excellent technical support. The project was supported by the University of Cologne and grant INST 216/682-1 FUGG from the German Research Council. A PhD fellowship from the International Graduate School in Development Health and Disease to C.P. is acknowledged. The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Community&#39;s Seventh Framework Program (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement No. 283570 (BioStruct-X).

<ol>
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The authors have nothing to disclose.

X-ray crystallography is still the fastest and most accurate method to determine three-dimensional near-atomic resolution structures of proteins28. However, it requires the growth of well-ordered single crystals. These are often difficult to get and the crystalline state is artificial. However, a comparison of protein structures determined by X-ray crystallography with those determined by other methods, especially NMR, shows generally a very good agreement. In the case of PPEP-1, an NMR structure published rec...

Difficile Clostridium הוא אחד הגורמים העיקריים של זיהומי שלשולים אנטיביוטיים הקשורים nosocomial 1. גראם חיובי זה חיידק אנאירובי מועבר באמצעות טופס הנבג שלה באמצעות מחזור הצואה-פה. בעשור האחרון, החדשה &#39;&#39; המגפה &#39;&#39; או &#39;&#39; hypervirulent &#39;&#39; זנים (למשל BI / NAP1 / 027) גרמו לעלייה דרסטית זיהומים חדשים ושיעורי תמותה בצפון אמריקה ובאירופה 2. C. difficile מחל -associated (CDAD) הנה דלקת מעי גסת סכנת חיים עם שיעורי תמותה גבוהים 3. הסימפטומים נעו בין שלשול 4 קוליטיס pseudomembranous 5 ואת megacolon הרעיל לעתים קרובות הקטלן 6. טיפול CDAD קשה כמו הזנים האלימים הם multidrug עמיד ושיעור ההישנות גבוה 7. באותו טיפול רגע כולל את metronidazole אנטיביוטיקה, fidaxomicin או ונקומיצין, או repetitiבמקרי vely חוזרים השתלת חיידקים בצואה. אסטרטגיות טיפוליות חדשות נדרשות 8 בדחיפות. התקדמות מסוימת זו נרשמת Bezlotoxumab נוגדנים חד שבטיים טיפולית, מיקוד הרעלן difficile ג B 9, עברה בהצלחה לאחרונה שלב III של הניסויים הקליניים ואת הוגש לאישורו עם ה- FDA ו- EMA. בנוסף, אנטיביוטיקות חדשות נבדקות כרגע בשלבים שונים של ניסויים קליניים 10. כדי לפתח טיפול יעיל מטרות טיפוליות חדשות חייבות להיות מזוהות. שהתגלו לאחרונה C. difficile פרוטאז פרולין-פרולין endopeptidase-1 (PPEP-1; CD2830 / Zmp1; EC 3.4.24.89) הוא יעד כזה מבטיח, כמו חוסר PPEP-1 זן נוק-אאוט פוחתת ארסיות של C . difficile in vivo 11. PPEP-1 הוא metalloprotease מופרש 12,13 ביקוע השני adhesins C. difficile ב C- הסופית שלהם 13 ובכך משחרר את bacter החסידIA מן האפיתל במעי האדם. לכן, הוא עוסק בשמירה על האיזון בין פנוטיפ הנייח ו ניע של difficile ג. כדי לפתח מעכבי סלקטיבית נגד PPEP-1 ו להבין איך היא מכירה מצעים שלה ידע אינטימי של מבנה תלת-ממדי שלו היא הכרחית. פתרנו את המבנה הגבישי הראשון של PPEP-1 לבד בקומפלקס עם פפטיד מצע 14. PPEP-1 הוא פרוטאז הראשון הידוע כי אג&quot;ח המסלקת פפטיד סלקטיבי בין שתי שאריות פרולין 15. הוא נקשר המצע באופן פעמי מפותל ומייצב אותו דרך רשת אליפטיות-ארומטיים מורחבת של שאריות הממוקמות S-הלולאה המכסה את האתר הפעיל פרוטאז 14. מצב המצע מחייב זו הנו ייחודי PPEP-1 ולא נמצא פרוטאזות אדם עד כה. זה עושה את זה יעד תרופה הבטיח, ואת מחוץ יעד השפעות של מעכבים מאוד לא סבירים. כדי לפתח מסך סלקטיבית Inh PPEP-1ibitors בעתיד כמות גדולה של חלבון טהור monodisperse PPEP-1 הוא זקוק. יתר על כן, על מנת לקבוע את המצב של עקדת המעכבים הראשונים, מבני שיתוף קריסטל עם PPEP-1 יצטרך להיקבע. בידיים שלנו PPEP-1 מייצר גבישים intergrown כל הזמן. לכן פתחנו הליך אופטימיזציה לייצר גבישים עקיפים באיכות יחידה של PPEP-1. בפרוטוקול זה אנו מתארים בפרוטרוט את הייצור, טיהור, פתרון התגבשות ומבנה PPEP-1 14. אנו משתמשים בביטוי תאי coli Escherichia של גרסה PPEP-1 חסרת רצף אות הפרשה, כרומטוגרפיה זיקת כרומטוגרפיה הדרת גודל עם הסרת תג הטיהור, ואחריו microseeding 16 אל תוך מרקע אופטימיזציה קביעת מבנה באמצעות פיזור יחיד גל אבץ האנומלי (אבץ-SAD) 17. פרוטוקול זה יכול להיות מותאם לקביעת ייצור ומבנה של חלבונים אחרים (למשל &lt;/ Em&gt; metalloproteases) ובמיוחד עבור חלבונים לייצר גבישים intergrown. על פי בקשה, פלסמיד דנ&quot;א של המבנה (pET28a-Nhis-rPPEP-1) ונתונים עקיפים יכולים להינתן למטרות חינוכיות.

<table><tbody><tr><td>&lt;strong&gt;Genes / Vectors / cell strains&lt;/strong&gt;</td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>pET28a vector</td><td>Merck-Millipore</td><td>69864</td><td>Thrombin cleavable N-terminal His-tag</td></tr><tr><td>&lt;em&gt;E. coli&lt;/em&gt; strain BL21 (DE3) Star</td><td>ThermoFisher Scientific</td><td>C601003</td><td>RNase H deficient</td></tr><tr><td>Codon-optimized gene (for &lt;em&gt;E. coli&lt;/em&gt;) of PPEP-1 (CD630_28300)</td><td>Geneart (Thermo Fisher Scientific)</td><td>custom</td><td>amino acids 27-220</td></tr><tr><td>&lt;strong&gt;Name&lt;/strong&gt;</td><td>&lt;strong&gt;Company&lt;/strong&gt;</td><td>&lt;strong&gt;Catalog Number&lt;/strong&gt;</td><td>&lt;strong&gt;Comments&lt;/strong&gt;</td></tr><tr><td>&lt;strong&gt;Chemicals&lt;/strong&gt;</td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Yeast extract</td><td>any</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Tryptone</td><td>any</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Antifoam B</td><td>Sigma-Aldrich</td><td>A5757</td><td>aqueous-silicone emulsion</td></tr><tr><td>Agar</td><td>any</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Kanamycin</td><td>any</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>IPTG</td><td>AppliChem</td><td>A1008</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Tris-HCl</td><td>AppliChem</td><td>A1087</td><td>Buffer grade</td></tr><tr><td>NaCl</td><td>any</td><td></td><td>Buffer grade</td></tr><tr><td>DNaseI</td><td>AppliChem</td><td>A3778</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Imidazole</td><td>AppliChem</td><td>A1073</td><td>Buffer grade</td></tr><tr><td>Thrombin</td><td>Sigma-Aldrich</td><td>T4648</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Ammonium phosphate dibasic</td><td>Sigma-Aldrich</td><td>215996</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Glycerol 100%</td><td>any</td><td></td><td>purest grade</td></tr><tr><td>Sucrose</td><td>Sigma-Aldrich</td><td>84097</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Liquid nitrogen</td><td>any</td><td></td><td>for storage and cryocooling of crystals</td></tr><tr><td>&lt;strong&gt;Name&lt;/strong&gt;</td><td>&lt;strong&gt;Company&lt;/strong&gt;</td><td>&lt;strong&gt;Catalog Number&lt;/strong&gt;</td><td>&lt;strong&gt;Comments&lt;/strong&gt;</td></tr><tr><td>&lt;strong&gt;Equipment (general)&lt;/strong&gt;</td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Shaking incubator</td><td>any</td><td></td><td>providing temperatures of 20 &amp;deg;C - 37 &amp;deg;C</td></tr><tr><td>Glassware</td><td>any</td><td></td><td>baffled Erlenmeyer flasks (50 ml - 2.8 L)</td></tr><tr><td>Centrifuge for large culture volumes</td><td>any</td><td></td><td>centrifuge for processing volumes up to 12 L</td></tr><tr><td>Sonicator Vibra-Cell VCX500</td><td>Sonics</td><td>SO-VCX500</td><td>or any other sonicator / cell disruptor</td></tr><tr><td>Ultracentrifuge</td><td>any</td><td></td><td>centrifuge providing speeds up to 150,000 x g</td></tr><tr><td>NiNTA Superflow resin</td><td>Qiagen</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Empty Glass Econo-Column</td><td>Bio-Rad</td><td>7371007</td><td>or any other empty glass or plastic column</td></tr><tr><td>Size exclusion chromatography column HiLoad Superdex 200 16/600</td><td>GE Healthcare</td><td>28989335</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Chromatography system &amp;Auml;kta Purifier</td><td>GE Healthcare</td><td>28406264</td><td>or any other chromatography system</td></tr><tr><td>Dialysis tubing Spectra/Por 3</td><td>Spectrum Labs</td><td>132724</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Dialysis tubing closures</td><td>Spectrum Labs</td><td>132738</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Ultrafiltration units (concentrators) 10,000 NWCO</td><td>any</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>UV-Vis spectrophotometer</td><td>any</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>&lt;strong&gt;Name&lt;/strong&gt;</td><td>&lt;strong&gt;Company&lt;/strong&gt;</td><td>&lt;strong&gt;Catalog Number&lt;/strong&gt;</td><td>&lt;strong&gt;Comments&lt;/strong&gt;</td></tr><tr><td>&lt;strong&gt;Equipment (crystallography)&lt;/strong&gt;</td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Low volume pipette 0.1-10 &amp;micro;l</td><td>any</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Positive displacement pipette Microman M10</td><td>Gilson</td><td>F148501</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Crystallization robot</td><td>any</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>96-well crystallization plates TTP IQ with three protein wells</td><td>TTP</td><td>4150-05810</td><td>or any other 96-well crystallization plate&amp;nbsp;</td></tr><tr><td>24-well CombiClover Junior Plate</td><td>Jena Bioscience</td><td>EB-CJR</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Crystal Clear Sealing Tape</td><td>Hampton Research</td><td>HR3-511</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Siliconized Glass Cover Slides</td><td>Hampton Research</td><td>HR3-225</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Commercial crystallization screens: SaltRx, Index, PEG/Ion, Crystal</td><td>Hampton Research</td><td>diverse</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Commercial crystallization screens: Wizard, PACT++, JCSG++</td><td>Jena Bioscience</td><td>diverse</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>JBS Beads-for-Seeds</td><td>Jena Bioscience</td><td>CO-501</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>CrystalCap SPINE HT (nylon loops)</td><td>Hampton Research</td><td>diverse</td><td>loop sizes 0.025 mm - 0.5 mm</td></tr><tr><td>CrystalCap Vial</td><td>Hampton Research</td><td>HR4-904</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Cryogenic Foam Dewar 800 ml</td><td>Hampton Research</td><td>HR4-673</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Cryogenic Foam Dewar 2 L</td><td>Hampton Research</td><td>HR4-675</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Vial Clamp, Straight</td><td>Hampton Research</td><td>HR4-670</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>CrystalWand Magnetic, Straight</td><td>Hampton Research</td><td>HR4-729</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>CryoCane 6 Vial Holder</td><td>Hampton Research</td><td>HR4-711</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>CryoSleeve</td><td>Hampton Research</td><td>HR4-708</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>CryoCane Color Coder - White</td><td>Hampton Research</td><td>HR4-713</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Scalpel</td><td>any</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Straight microforcep</td><td>any</td><td></td><td>for manipulation of sealing tape. &lt;em&gt;etc.&lt;/em&gt;</td></tr><tr><td>Acupuncture needle</td><td>any</td><td></td><td>&lt;em&gt;e.g.&lt;/em&gt; from a pharmacy</td></tr><tr><td>Stereo microscope</td><td>any</td><td></td><td>for inspection of crystallization plates and crystal mounting, magnification up to 160X</td></tr></tbody></table>

production, crystallization and structure determination of c. difficile ppep-1 via microseeding and zinc-sad

New therapies are needed to treat Clostridium difficile infections that are a major threat to human health. The C. difficile metalloprotease PPEP-1 is a target for future development of inhibitors to decrease the virulence of the pathogen. To perform biophysical and structural characterization as well as inhibitor screening, large amounts of pure and active protein will be needed. We have developed a protocol for efficient production and purification of PPEP-1 by the use of E. coli as the expression host yielding sufficient amounts and purity of protein for crystallization and structure determination. Additionally, using microseeding, highly intergrown crystals of PPEP-1 can be grown to well-ordered crystals suitable for X-ray diffraction analysis. The methods could also be used to produce other recombinant proteins and to study the structures of other proteins producing intergrown crystals.

rPPEP-1 is overexpressed in several E. coli strains, with the highest yield in E. coli BL21 (DE3) Star (Figure 1C). After the first NiNTA affinity chromatography step the 6xHis-tag can be successfully cleaved off from most of the protein and in the second NiNTA step undigested protein can be completely separated from thrombin-digested protein (Figure 1D). On a S200 16/600 column untagged rPPEP-1 migrates as monomer with occasional fronti...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Production, Crystallization and Structure Determination of C. difficile PPEP-1 via Microseeding and Zinc-SAD at JoVE.com

Production, Crystallization and Structure Determination of C. difficile PPEP-1 via Microseeding and Zinc-SAD

Proline-proline endopeptidase-1 (PPEP-1) is a secreted metalloprotease and promising drug-target from the human pathogen Clostridium difficile. Here we describe all methods necessary for the production and structure determination of this protein.

הפקה, התגבשות וקביעת מבנה<em&gt; C. difficile</em&gt; PPEP-1 באמצעות Microseeding ואבץ-SAD

New therapies are needed to treat Clostridium difficile infections that are a major threat to human health. The C. difficile metalloprotease PPEP-1 is a ...

production-crystallization-structure-determination-c-difficile-ppep-1

Research

JoVE Journal

Biochemistry

Production, Crystallization and Structure Determination of C. difficile PPEP-1 via Microseeding and Zinc-SAD

11.5K Views.  University of Cologne. Proline-proline endopeptidase-1 (PPEP-1) is a secreted metalloprotease and promising drug-target from the human pathogen Clostridium difficile. Here we describe all methods necessary for the production and structure determination of this protein. 

Video: Production, Crystallization and Structure Determination of C. difficile PPEP-1 via Microseeding and Zinc-SAD

Production of Disulfide-stabilized Transmembrane Peptide Complexes for Structural Studies

Physical interactions among the lipid-embedded alpha-helical domains of membrane proteins play a crucial role in folding and assembly of membrane protein complexes and in dynamic processes such as transmembrane (TM) signaling and regulation of cell-surface protein levels. Understanding the structural features driving the association of particular sequences requires sophisticated biophysical and biochemical analyses of TM peptide complexes. However, the extreme hydrophobicity of TM domains makes them very difficult to manipulate using standard peptide chemistry techniques, and production of suitable study material often proves prohibitively challenging. Identifying conditions under which peptides can adopt stable helical conformations and form complexes spontaneously adds a further level of difficulty. Here we present a procedure for the production of homo- or hetero-dimeric TM peptide complexes from materials that are expressed in E. coli, thus allowing incorporation of stable isotope labels for nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) or non-natural amino acids for other applications relatively inexpensively. The key innovation in this method is that TM complexes are produced and purified as covalently associated (disulfide-crosslinked) assemblies that can form stable, stoichiometric and homogeneous structures when reconstituted into detergent, lipid or other membrane-mimetic materials. We also present carefully optimized procedures for expression and purification that are equally applicable whether producing single TM domains or crosslinked complexes and provide advice for adapting these methods to new TM sequences.

Biophysical and biochemical studies of interactions among membrane-embedded protein domains face many technical challenges, the first of which is obtaining appropriate study material. This article describes a protocol for producing and purifying disulfide-stabilized transmembrane peptide complexes that are suitable for structural analysis by solution nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and other analytical applications.

מכלולי פפטיד הטרנסממברני ייצור של דיסולפיד-התייצבו ללימודים מבניים

Physical  interactions among the lipid-embedded alpha-helical domains of membrane  proteins play a crucial role in folding and assembly of membrane ...

Chemistry

Biochemical and Structural Characterization of the Carbohydrate Transport Substrate-binding-protein SP0092

Development of new antimicrobials and vaccines for Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcus) are necessary to halt the rapid rise in multiple resistant strains. Carbohydrate substrate binding proteins (SBPs) represent viable targets for the development of protein-based vaccines and new antimicrobials because of their extracellular localization and the centrality of carbohydrate import for pneumococcal metabolism, respectively. Described here is a rationalized integrated protocol to carry out a comprehensive characterization of SP0092, which can be extended to other carbohydrate SBPs from the pneumococcus and other bacteria. This procedure can aid the structure-based design of inhibitors for this class of proteins. Presented in the first part of this manuscript are protocols for biochemical analysis by thermal shift assay, multi angle light scattering (MALS), and size exclusion chromatography (SEC), which optimize the stability and homogeneity of the sample directed to crystallization trials and so enhance the probability of success. The second part of this procedure describes the characterization of the SBP crystals using a tunable wavelength anomalous diffraction synchrotron beamline, and data collection protocols for measuring data that can be used to resolve the crystallized protein structure.

A streamlined protocol for performing an extensive biochemical and structural characterization of a carbohydrate substrate binding protein from Streptococcus pneumoniae is presented.

אפיון הביוכימי ומבניים של SP0092 המצע-מחייב-חלבון פחמימות תחבורה

Development of new antimicrobials and vaccines for Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcus) are necessary to halt the rapid rise in multiple resistant ...

Generation and Recovery of &beta;-cell Spheroids From Step-growth PEG-peptide Hydrogels

Hydrogels are hydrophilic crosslinked polymers that provide a three-dimensional microenvironment with tissue-like elasticity and high permeability for culturing therapeutically relevant cells or tissues. Hydrogels prepared from poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) derivatives are increasingly used for a variety of tissue engineering applications, in part due to their tunable and cytocompatible properties. In this protocol, we utilized thiol-ene step-growth photopolymerizations to fabricate PEG-peptide hydrogels for encapsulating pancreatic MIN6 b-cells. The gels were formed by 4-arm PEG-norbornene (PEG4NB) macromer and a chymotrypsin-sensitive peptide crosslinker (CGGYC). The hydrophilic and non-fouling nature of PEG offers a cytocompatible microenvironment for cell survival and proliferation in 3D, while the use of chymotrypsin-sensitive peptide sequence (CGGY&darr;C, arrow indicates enzyme cleavage site, while terminal cysteine residues were added for thiol-ene crosslinking) permits rapid recovery of cell constructs forming within the hydrogel. The following protocol elaborates techniques for: (1) Encapsulation of MIN6 &beta;-cells in thiol-ene hydrogels; (2) Qualitative and quantitative cell viability assays to determine cell survival and proliferation; (3) Recovery of cell spheroids using chymotrypsin-mediated gel erosion; and (4) Structural and functional analysis of the recovered spheroids.

Generation and Recovery of &#946;-cell Spheroids From Step-growth PEG-peptide Hydrogels

The following protocol provides techniques for encapsulating pancreatic &#x03B2;-cells in step-growth PEG-peptide hydrogels formed by thiol-ene photo-click reactions. This material platform not only offers a cytocompatible microenvironment for cell encapsulation, but also permits user-controlled rapid recovery of cell structures formed within the hydrogels.

דור ושחזור של spheroids β-תא מהידרוג שלב צמיחת PEG-פפטיד

Hydrogels are hydrophilic crosslinked polymers that provide a three-dimensional  microenvironment with tissue-like elasticity and high permeability for  ...

Bioengineering

Multi-target Parallel Processing Approach for Gene-to-structure Determination of the Influenza Polymerase PB2 Subunit

Pandemic outbreaks of highly virulent influenza strains can cause widespread morbidity and mortality in human populations worldwide. In the United States alone, an average of 41,400 deaths and 1.86 million hospitalizations are caused by influenza virus infection each year 1. Point mutations in the polymerase basic protein 2 subunit (PB2) have been linked to the adaptation of the viral infection in humans 2. Findings from such studies have revealed the biological significance of PB2 as a virulence factor, thus highlighting its potential as an antiviral drug target.
The structural genomics program put forth by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID) provides funding to Emerald Bio and three other Pacific Northwest institutions that together make up the Seattle Structural Genomics Center for Infectious Disease (SSGCID). The SSGCID is dedicated to providing the scientific community with three-dimensional protein structures of NIAID category A-C pathogens. Making such structural information available to the scientific community serves to accelerate structure-based drug design.
Structure-based drug design plays an important role in drug development. Pursuing multiple targets in parallel greatly increases the chance of success for new lead discovery by targeting a pathway or an entire protein family. Emerald Bio has developed a high-throughput, multi-target parallel processing pipeline (MTPP) for gene-to-structure determination to support the consortium. Here we describe the protocols used to determine the structure of the PB2 subunit from four different influenza A strains.

Structure-based drug design plays an important role in drug development. Pursuing multiple targets in parallel greatly increases the chance of success for lead discovery. The following article highlights how the Seattle Structural Genomics Center for Infectious Disease utilizes a multi-target approach for gene-to-structure determination of the PB2 influenza A subunit.

גישת עיבוד מקביל רב היעד לקביעת גנטי למבנה של פולימראז שפעת PB2 מקטע

Pandemic outbreaks of highly virulent influenza strains can cause widespread morbidity and mortality in human populations worldwide. In the United States ...

Immunology and Infection

Production, Crystallization, and Structure Determination of the IKK-binding Domain of NEMO

NEMO is a scaffolding protein which plays an essential role in the NF-&#954;B pathway by assembling the IKK-complex with the kinases IKK&#945; and IKK&#946;. Upon activation, the IKK complex phosphorylates the I&#954;B molecules leading to NF-&#954;B nuclear translocation and activation of target genes. Inhibition of the NEMO/IKK interaction is an attractive therapeutic paradigm for the modulation of NF-&#954;B pathway activity, making NEMO a target for inhibitors design and discovery. To facilitate the process of discovery and optimization of NEMO inhibitors, we engineered an improved construct of the IKK-binding domain of NEMO that would allow for structure determination of the protein in the apo form and while bound to small molecular weight inhibitors. Here, we present the strategy utilized for the design, expression and structural characterization of the IKK-binding domain of NEMO. The protein is expressed in E. coli cells, solubilized under denaturing conditions and purified through three chromatographic steps. We discuss the protocols for obtaining crystals for structure determination and describe data acquisition and analysis strategies. The protocols will find wide applicability to the structure determination of complexes of NEMO and small molecule inhibitors.

We describe protocols for the structure determination of the IKK-binding domain of NEMO by X-ray crystallography. The methods include protein expression, purification and characterization as well as strategies for successful crystal optimization and structure determination of the protein in its unbound form.

הפקה, התגבשות וקביעת מבנה של התחום המחייב של ה-IKK של נמו

NEMO is a scaffolding protein which plays an essential role in the NF-&#954;B pathway by assembling the IKK-complex with the kinases IKK&#945; and ...

X-Ray Crystallography to Study the Oligomeric State Transition of the Thermotoga maritima M42 Aminopeptidase TmPep1050

The M42 aminopeptidases form functionally active complexes made of 12 subunits. Their assembly process appears to be regulated by their metal ion cofactors triggering a dimer-dodecamer transition. Upon metal ion binding, several structural modifications occur in the active site and at the interaction interface, shaping dimers to promote the self-assembly. To observe such modifications, stable oligomers must be isolated prior to structural study. Reported here is a method that allows the purification of stable dodecamers and dimers of TmPep1050, an M42 aminopeptidase of T. maritima, and their structure determination by X-ray crystallography. Dimers were prepared from dodecamers by removing metal ions with a chelating agent. Without their&#160;cofactor, dodecamers became less stable and were fully dissociated upon heating. The oligomeric structures were solved by the straightforward molecular replacement approach. To illustrate the methodology, the structure of a TmPep1050 variant, totally impaired in metal ion binding, is presented showing no further breakdown of dimers to monomers.

X-Ray Crystallography to Study the Oligomeric State Transition of the Thermotoga maritima M42 Aminopeptidase TmPep1050

This protocol has been developed to study the dimer-dodecamer transition of TmPep1050, an M42 aminopeptidase, at the structural level. It is a straightforward pipeline starting from protein purification to X-ray data processing. Crystallogenesis, data set indexation, and molecular replacement have been emphasized through a case of study, TmPep1050H60A H307A variant.

קריסטלוגרפיה רנטגן כדי ללמוד את המעבר המדינה אוליגומרית של Thermotoga maritima M42 Aminopeptidase TmPep1050

The M42 aminopeptidases form functionally active complexes made of 12 subunits. Their assembly process appears to be regulated by their metal ion ...

Optimizing the Growth of Endothiapepsin Crystals for Serial Crystallography Experiments

Here, a protocol is presented to facilitate the creation of large volumes (&#62; 100 &#181;L) of micro-crystalline slurries suitable for serial crystallography experiments at both synchrotrons and XFELs. The method is based upon an understanding of the protein crystal phase diagram, and how that knowledge can be utilized. The method is divided into three stages: (1) optimizing crystal morphology, (2) transitioning to batch, and (3) scaling. Stage 1 involves finding well diffracting, single crystals, hopefully but not necessarily, presenting in a cube-like morphology. In Stage 2, the Stage 1 condition is optimized by crystal growth time. This strategy can transform crystals grown by vapor diffusion to batch. Once crystal growth can occur within approximately 24 h, a morphogram of the protein and precipitant mixture can be plotted and used as the basis for a scaling strategy (Stage 3). When crystals can be grown in batch, scaling can be attempted, and the crystal size and concentration optimized as the volume is increased. Endothiapepsin has been used as a demonstration protein for this protocol. Some of the decisions presented are specific to endothiapepsin. However, it is hoped that the way they have been applied will inspire a way of thinking about this procedure that others can adapt to their own projects.

The aim of this article is to give the viewer a solid understanding of how to transform their small-volume, vapor-diffusion protocol, for growing large, single protein crystals, into a large-volume batch micro-crystallization method for serial crystallography.

אופטימיזציה של הצמיחה של גבישי אנדותיאפפסין לניסויי קריסטלוגרפיה סדרתיים

Here, a protocol is presented to facilitate the creation of large volumes (&#62; 100 &#181;L) of micro-crystalline slurries suitable for serial ...

Crystallization and Structural Determination of an Enzyme:Substrate Complex by Serial Crystallography in a Versatile Microfluidic Chip

The preparation of well diffracting crystals and their handling before their X-ray analysis are two critical steps of biocrystallographic studies. We describe a versatile microfluidic chip that enables the production of crystals by the efficient method of counter-diffusion. The convection-free environment provided by the microfluidic channels is ideal for crystal growth and useful to diffuse a substrate into the active site of the crystalline enzyme. Here we applied this approach to the CCA-adding enzyme of the psychrophilic bacterium Planococcus halocryophilus in the presented example. After crystallization and substrate diffusion/soaking, the crystal structure of the enzyme:substrate complex was determined at room temperature by serial crystallography and the analysis of multiple crystals directly inside the chip. The whole procedure preserves the genuine diffraction properties of the samples because it requires no crystal handling.

A versatile microfluidic device is described that enables the crystallization of an enzyme using the counter-diffusion method, the introduction of a substrate in the crystals by soaking, and the 3D structure determination of the enzyme:substrate complex by a serial analysis of crystals inside the chip at room temperature.

התגבשות וקביעת מבנה של אנזים:קומפלקס מצע על ידי התגבשות סדרתית בשבב מיקרופלואידי רב-תכליתי

The preparation of well diffracting crystals and their handling before their X-ray analysis are two critical steps of biocrystallographic studies. We ...

Crystallizing Membrane Proteins for Structure Determination using Lipidic Mesophases

A detailed protocol for crystallizing membrane proteins by using lipidic mesophases is described. This method has variously been referred to as the lipidic cubic phase or in meso method. The method has been shown to be quite versatile in that it has been used to solve X-ray crystallographic structures of prokaryotic and eukaryotic proteins, proteins that are monomeric, homo- and hetero-multimeric, chromophore-containing and chromophore-free, and alpha-helical and beta-barrel proteins. Recent successes using in meso crystallization are the human engineered beta2-adrenergic and adenosine A2a G protein-coupled receptors. Protocols are presented for reconstituting the membrane protein into the monoolein-based mesophase, and for setting up crystallizations in the manual mode. Additional steps in the overall process, such as crystal harvesting, are to be addressed in future video articles. The time required to prepare the protein-loaded mesophase and to set up a crystallization plate manually is about one hour.

Herein is described the procedure implemented in the Caffrey Membrane Structural and Functional Biology Group to set up manually crystallization trials of membrane proteins in lipidic mesophases.

גיבוש חלבונים בממברנה עבור קביעת מבנה באמצעות Mesophases Lipidic

A detailed protocol for crystallizing membrane proteins by using lipidic mesophases is described. This method has variously been referred to as the ...

Biology

A Purification and In Vitro Activity Assay for a (p)ppGpp Synthetase from Clostridium difficile

Kinase and pyrophosphokinase enzymes transfer the gamma phosphate or the beta-gamma pyrophosphate moiety from nucleotide triphosphate precursors to substrates to create phosphorylated products. The use of &#947;-32-P labeled NTP precursors allows simultaneous monitoring of substrate utilization and product formation by radiography. Thin layer chromatography (TLC) on cellulose plates allows rapid separation and sensitive quantification of substrate and product. We present a method for utilizing the thin-layer chromatography to assay the pyrophosphokinase activity of a purified (p)ppGpp synthetase. This method has previously been used to characterize the activity of cyclic nucleotide and dinucleotide synthetases and is broadly suitable for characterizing the activity of any enzyme that hydrolyzes a nucleotide triphosphate bond or transfers a terminal phosphate from a phosphate donor to another molecule.

A Purification and In Vitro Activity Assay for a pppGpp Synthetase from Clostridium difficile

Here, we describe a method for purifying histidine-tagged pyrophosphokinase enzymes and utilizing thin layer chromatography of radiolabelled substrates and products to assay for the enzymatic activity in vitro. The enzyme activity assay is broadly applicable to any kinase, nucleotide cyclase, or phosphor-transfer reaction whose mechanism includes nucleotide triphosphate hydrolysis.

ב חוץ גופית Assay פעילות עבור ppGpp (p) המעביר מ Clostridium difficile וטיהור

Kinase and pyrophosphokinase enzymes transfer the gamma phosphate or the beta-gamma pyrophosphate moiety from nucleotide triphosphate precursors to ...

הפקה, התגבשות וקביעת מבנה

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