Bernadette Arnoux

Two-dimensional structure of the native light-harvesting complex LH2 from Rubrivivax gelatinosus and of a truncated form.

The light-harvesting complex LH2 of Rubrivivax gelatinosus has an oligomeric structure built from alpha-beta heterodimers containing three bacteriochlorophylls and one carotenoid each. The alpha subunit (71 residues) presents a C-terminal hydrophobic extension (residues 51-71) which is prone to attack by an endogenous protease. This extension can also be cleaved by a mild thermolysin treatment, as demonstrated by electrophoresis and by matrix-assisted laser desorption-time of flight mass spectrometry. This cleavage does not affect the pigment binding sites as shown by absorption spectroscopy. Electron microscopy was used to investigate the structures of the native and thermolysin cleaved forms of the complexes. Two-dimensional crystals of the reconstituted complexes were examined after negative staining and cryomicroscopy. Projection maps at 10 A resolution were calculated, demonstrating the nonameric ring-like organization of alpha-beta subunits. The cleaved form presents the same structural features. We conclude that the LH2 complex is structurally homologous to the Rhodopseudomonas acidophila LH2. The hydrophobic C-terminal extension does not fold back in the membrane, but lays out on the periplasmic surface of the complex.

The 1.6 A structure of Kunitz-type domain from the alpha 3 chain of human type VI collagen.

The C-terminal Kunitz-type domain from the alpha 3 chain of human type VI collagen (C5), a single 58 amino acid residue chain with three disulfide bridges, was cloned, expressed and crystallized in a monoclonic form, space group P2(1), with a = 25.7 A, b = 38.2 A, c = 28.8 A and beta = 109 degrees. The structure was resolved by molecular replacement, using Alzheimers protein precursor inhibitor and bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor three-dimensional structures as search models. The molecule with one sulfate ion and 43 associated water molecules was refined by XPLOR to an R-factor of 18.9% at 1.6 A. The molecule was not degraded by trypsin and did not inhibit trypsin or tested serine proteases. As opposed to the other Kunitz family members, C5 demonstrates left-handed chirality of the Cys14-Cys38 disulfide bond. Inversion of the Thr13 carbonyl and bulky side-chains at the interface with trypsin in a model of the C5-trypsin complex may explain the lack of inhibition of trypsin.

Three-dimensional crystal structure of recombinant erabutoxin a at 2.0 Å resolution

Recombinant erabutoxin a (Ear) has been crystallized by vapour diffusion in hanging drops. The crystals belong to space group P212121 with cell dimensions a = 55.8 Å, b = 53.4 Å, c = 40.8 Å. Diffraction data have been recorded on a FAST detector up to 2.0 Å. The atomic crystal structure of Ear has been determined by initial refinement of the structure of the isotoxin erabutoxin b (Eb) the crystals of which were grown under identical conditions. The R‐factor was 23% at 2.0 Å resolution. The secondary and tertiary structures of Ear are shown to be identical with that of wild‐type Eb, within the experimental error.

Pigment-protein interactions in Rhodobacter sphaeroides Y photochemical reaction center; comparison with other reaction center structures

Structural characteristics of pigments and cofactors are analyzed in the X-ray structure of the Rhodobacter sphaeroides (Y strain) photochemical reaction center, recently refined at 3 Å resolution (Arnoux B, Gaucher JF, Ducruix A and Reiss-Husson F (1995) Acta Cryst D51: 368–379). As several structures are now available for these pigment-protein complexes from various Rhodobacter sphaeroides strains and for Rhodopseudomonas viridis, a detailed comparison was done for highlighting converging structural results as well as for pointing to incidental differences. Comparison of mean plane orientations and distances, and also direct superposition of the pigment arrays, indicated that the best agreement between all the structures concerned the dimer and the bacteriopheophytin of the A branch. In the Y reaction center structure the pentacoordination of the Mg++ atoms of the bacteriochlorophylls, and the H bonding pattern of the porphyrin conjugated carbonyls are consistent with the better resolved Rhodobacter sphaeroides recently published structure (Ermler U, Fritzsch G, Buchanan SK and Michel H (1995) Structure 2:925–936). Discrepancies between the various Rhodobacter sphaeroides structures are larger for the quinones, particularly the secondary one. In the Y reaction center structure the phytyl and isoprenoid chains of the cofactors are defined and their local mobility was evaluated by analyzing the temperature factor and the density of neighbouring atoms. Significant differences were observed between the A and B branches, and, within each branch, from the dimer to the quinone molecules.

Anisotropic behaviour of the C-terminal Kunitz-type domain of the α3 chain of human type VI collagen at atomic resolution (0.9 Å)

The C-terminal Kunitz-type domain from the alpha3 chain of human type VI collagen (C5), a single amino-acid residue chain with three disulfide bridges, was refined at 0.9 A resolution in a monoclinic form, space group P2(1) with one molecule per asymmetric unit, using data collected at cryogenic temperature (110 K). The average protein factor decreases from 21 A(2) at room temperature (RT) to 12 A(2) at cryotemperature (100 K, CT). The spatially close N- and C-termini remain highly disordered. The different structural motifs of C5 were analyzed in terms of rigid-body displacement (TLS analyses) and show dominant libration motion for the secondary structure.

1.8 A structure of Hypoderma lineatum collagenase: a member of the serine proteinase family.

Collagenase from the fly larvae Hypoderma lineatum cleaves triple-helical collagen in a single region. It was crystallized at neutral pH in the absence of inhibitor and 1.8 A data were collected using synchrotron radiation and a Mark II prototype detector. The structure was solved by combining multiple isomorphous replacement methods and rotation translation function in real space. Refinement between 7 and 1.8 A using the program X-PLOR led to a final R factor of 16.9%. The overall fold is similar to that of other trypsin-like enzymes but the structure differs mainly by the presence of a beta-sheet at position 31-44. The two embedded molecules of the asymmetric unit are related by a pseudo twofold axis. The beta-sheet 31-44 of one molecule is involved in hydrogen bonds with binding-pocket residues of the other molecule. It thus completely prevents access to the active site. The specificity of this enzyme probably results from the position of Phe192 and Tyr99 at the entrance of the active site.

1.2 Å Refinement of the Kunitz-Type Domain from the α3 Chain of Human Type VI Collagen

The recombinant Kunitz-type domain (C5) of human collagen alpha3(VI) chain was previously described at 1.6 A resolution at room temperature. By changing the crystallization conditions and using synchrotron radiation, we are able to record diffraction data to 1.2 A resolution for crystals of the same space group at 291 K. The protein-water-ion model has been refined anisotropically against these new data using the program SHELXL93; the results converged to an R factor of 15.0%, with all data between 7 and 1.2 A. The final electron-density map reveals a clear chain tracing with a few disordered residues and five residues out of 58 that present alternate conformations. The Cys14-Cys38 bond presents the less frequently observed left-hand conformation (chi1 = -60 degrees). The solvent molecules and a phosphate ion are well ordered with an average B of 38 A2. The high-resolution structure reveals the N and C termini which were missing from the 1.6 A structure.

Crystallographic Studies of the Photosynthetic Reaction Center from Wild Type Rhodobacter sphaeroides (Y Strain)

Reaction centers (RC) from various purple bacteria are expected to show many structural similarities. Indeed they fulfill analogous functions, and they are built in the same way by three polypeptide chains bearing a number of cofactors: four bacteriochlorophylls, two bacteriopheophytins, one carotenoid, two quinones and a metal ion (most often Fe). Thus the structure of the Rps. viridis RC, the first to be resolved at atomic resolution (1–3) could be considered as a model for this family of pigment-protein complexes. Very recently, the main structural features of Rps. viridis RC have been shown to be conserved in the R26 Rb. sphaeroides RC (4–7).

X-Ray structure of the antibiotic rutamycin

The 26-membered macrolide structure (1) has been established for the antibiotic rutamycin by X-ray crystallography.