N. E. C. Duke

The Structural Biology Center 19ID undulator beamline: facility specifications and protein crystallographic results

The 19ID undulator beamline of the Structure Biology Center has been designed and built to take full advantage of the high flux, brilliance and quality of X-ray beams delivered by the Advanced Photon Source. The beamline optics are capable of delivering monochromatic X-rays with photon energies from 3.5 to 20 keV (3.5-0.6 A wavelength) with fluxes up to 8-18 x 10(12) photons s(-1) (depending on photon energy) onto cryogenically cooled crystal samples. The size of the beam (full width at half-maximum) at the sample position can be varied from 2.2 mm x 1.0 mm (horizontal x vertical, unfocused) to 0.083 mm x 0.020 mm in its fully focused configuration. Specimen-to-detector distances of between 100 mm and 1500 mm can be used. The high flexibility, inherent in the design of the optics, coupled with a kappa-geometry goniometer and beamline control software allows optimal strategies to be adopted in protein crystallographic experiments, thus maximizing the chances of their success. A large-area mosaic 3 x 3 CCD detector allows high-quality diffraction data to be measured rapidly to the crystal diffraction limits. The beamline layout and the X-ray optical and endstation components are described in detail, and the results of representative crystallographic experiments are presented.

Crystal structure of murine sCEACAM1a[1,4]: a coronavirus receptor in the CEA family

CEACAM1 is a member of the carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) family. Isoforms of murine CEACAM1 serve as receptors for mouse hepatitis virus (MHV), a murine coronavirus. Here we report the crystal structure of soluble murine sCEACAM1a[1,4], which is composed of two Ig‐like domains and has MHV neutralizing activity. Its N‐terminal domain has a uniquely folded CC′ loop that encompasses key virus‐binding residues. This is the first atomic structure of any member of the CEA family, and provides a prototypic architecture for functional exploration of CEA family members. We discuss the structural basis of virus receptor activities of murine CEACAM1 proteins, binding of Neisseria to human CEACAM1, and other homophilic and heterophilic interactions of CEA family members.

Structural insights into the modulation of the redox properties of two Geobacter sulfurreducens homologous triheme cytochromes

The redox properties of a periplasmic triheme cytochrome, PpcB from Geobacter sulfurreducens, were studied by NMR and visible spectroscopy. The structure of PpcB was determined by X-ray diffraction. PpcB is homologous to PpcA (77% sequence identity), which mediates cytoplasmic electron transfer to extracellular acceptors and is crucial in the bioenergetic metabolism of Geobacter spp. The heme core structure of PpcB in solution, probed by 2D-NMR, was compared to that of PpcA. The results showed that the heme core structures of PpcB and PpcA in solution are similar, in contrast to their crystal structures where the heme cores of the two proteins differ from each other. NMR redox titrations were carried out for both proteins and the order of oxidation of the heme groups was determined. The microscopic properties of PpcB and PpcA redox centers showed important differences: (i) the order in which hemes become oxidized is III-I-IV for PpcB, as opposed to I-IV-III for PpcA; (ii) the redox-Bohr effect is also different in the two proteins. The different redox features observed between PpcB and PpcA suggest that each protein uniquely modulates the properties of their co-factors to assure effectiveness in their respective metabolic pathways. The origins of the observed differences are discussed.

Structures and solution properties of two novel periplasmic sensor domains with c-type heme from chemotaxis proteins of Geobacter sulfurreducens: implications for signal transduction.

Periplasmic sensor domains from two methyl-accepting chemotaxis proteins from Geobacter sulfurreducens (encoded by genes GSU0935 and GSU0582) were expressed in Escherichia coli. The sensor domains were isolated, purified, characterized in solution, and their crystal structures were determined. In the crystal, both sensor domains form swapped dimers and show a PAS-type fold. The swapped segment consists of two helices of about 45 residues at the N terminus with the hemes located between the two monomers. In the case of the GSU0582 sensor, the dimer contains a crystallographic 2-fold symmetry and the heme is coordinated by an axial His and a water molecule. In the case of the GSU0935 sensor, the crystals contain a non-crystallographic dimer, and surprisingly, the coordination of the heme in each monomer is different; monomer A heme has His-Met ligation and monomer B heme has His-water ligation as found in the GSU0582 sensor. The structures of these sensor domains are the first structures of PAS domains containing covalently bound heme. Optical absorption, electron paramagnetic resonance and NMR spectroscopy have revealed that the heme groups of both sensor domains are high-spin and low-spin in the oxidized and reduced forms, respectively, and that the spin-state interconversion involves a heme axial ligand replacement. Both sensor domains bind NO in their ferric and ferrous forms but bind CO only in the reduced form. The binding of both NO and CO occurs via an axial ligand exchange process, and is fully reversible. The reduction potentials of the sensor domains differ by 95 mV (-156 mV and -251 mV for sensors GSU0582 and GSU0935, respectively). The swapped dimerization of these sensor domains and redox-linked ligand switch might be related to the mechanism of signal transduction by these chemotaxis proteins.

Structure of the catalytic domain of glucuronoyl esterase Cip2 from Hypocrea jecorina

The structure of the catalytic domain of glucuronoyl esterase Cip2 from the fungus H. jecorina was determined at a resolution of 1.9 Å. This is the first structure of the newly established carbohydrate esterase family 15. The structure has revealed the residues Ser278-His411-Glu301 present in a triad arrangement as the active site. Ser278 is present in the novel consensus sequence GCSRXG reported earlier in the members of CE-15 family. The active site is exposed on the surface of the protein which has implications for the ability of the enzyme to hydrolyze ester bonds of large substrates. Efforts are underway to obtain crystals of Cip2_GE complexed with inhibitor and synthetic substrates. The activity of the glucuronoyl esterase could play a significant role in plant biomass degradation as its expected role is to separate the lignin from hemicelluloses by hydrolysis of the ester bond between 4-O-methyl-D-glucuronic acid moieties of glucuronoxylans and aromatic alcohols of lignin.

Structure of a novel c7-type three-heme cytochrome domain from a multidomain cytochrome c polymer

The structure of a novel c7‐type cytochrome domain that has two bishistidine coordinated hemes and one heme with histidine, methionine coordination (where the sixth ligand is a methionine residue) was determined at 1.7 Å resolution. This domain is a representative of domains that form three polymers encoded by the Geobacter sulfurreducens genome. Two of these polymers consist of four and one protein of nine c7‐type domains with a total of 12 and 27 hemes, respectively. Four individual domains (termed A, B, C, and D) from one such multiheme cytochrome c (ORF03300) were cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli. The domain C produced diffraction quality crystals from 2.4 M sodium malonate (pH 7). The structure was solved by MAD method and refined to an R‐factor of 19.5% and R‐free of 21.8%. Unlike the two c7 molecules with known structures, one from G. sulfurreducens (PpcA) and one from Desulfuromonas acetoxidans where all three hemes are bishistidine coordinated, this domain contains a heme which is coordinated by a methionine and a histidine residue. As a result, the corresponding heme could have a higher potential than the other two hemes. The apparent midpoint reduction potential, Eapp, of domain C is −105 mV, 50 mV higher than that of PpcA.

Is your cold-stream working for you or against you? An in-depth look at temperature and sample motion

It is normally assumed that a commercial gaseous nitrogen cold-stream provides a sample environment near 100 K and that the force of the cold-stream does not induce movement in the sample. As might be expected, the reality is much more complex. Here, an investigation of one cold-stream, starting with the temperature profile, is presented. Using silicon single crystals and flexible mounting loops, an approximate force/vibration profile of the cold-stream is obtained. Results indicate that the center of the temperature profile is offset from the position suggested by the manufacturer-supplied alignment tool and coincides with the area within the cold-stream that has the most consistent force profile. Tests indicate that this region is only about one-third of the width of the cold-stream nozzle opening. To verify that the results were relevant to protein crystallographic data collection, the impact of cold-stream position on the final data quality for lysozyme crystals was analyzed. On the basis of the observations it is recommended that users perform a temperature profile of their cold-streams to ensure proper alignment instead of relying only on the alignment tool for setup. In addition, suggestions are made on what users can look for in data processing to identify problems with loop movement and what users can do to minimize the impact of these problems on their experiments.

The structure of PccH from Geobacter sulfurreducens - a novel low reduction potential monoheme cytochrome essential for accepting electrons from an electrode.

The structure of cytochrome c (GSU3274) designated as PccH from Geobacter sulfurreducens was determined at a resolution of 2.0 Å. PccH is a small (15 kDa) cytochrome containing one c‐type heme, found to be essential for the growth of G. sulfurreducens with respect to accepting electrons from graphite electrodes poised at −300 mV versus standard hydrogen electrode. with fumarate as the terminal electron acceptor. The structure of PccH is unique among the monoheme cytochromes described to date. The structural fold of PccH can be described as forming two lobes with the heme sandwiched in a cleft between the two lobes. In addition, PccH has a low reduction potential of −24 mV at pH 7, which is unusual for monoheme cytochromes. Based on difference in structure, together with sequence phylogenetic analysis, we propose that PccH can be regarded as a first characterized example of a new subclass of class I monoheme cytochromes. The low reduction potential of PccH may enable the protein to be redox active at the typically negative potential ranges encountered by G. sulfurreducens. Because PccH is predicted to be located in the periplasm of this bacterium, it could not be involved in the first step of accepting electrons from the electrode but is very likely involved in the downstream electron transport events in the periplasm.

Mitigation of X-ray damage in macromolecular crystallography by submicrometre line focusing.

Reported here are measurements of the penetration depth and spatial distribution of photoelectron (PE) damage excited by 18.6 keV X-ray photons in a lysozyme crystal with a vertical submicrometre line-focus beam of 0.7 µm full-width half-maximum (FWHM). The experimental results determined that the penetration depth of PEs is 5 ± 0.5 µm with a monotonically decreasing spatial distribution shape, resulting in mitigation of diffraction signal damage. This does not agree with previous theoretical predication that the mitigation of damage requires a peak of damage outside the focus. A new improved calculation provides some qualitative agreement with the experimental results, but significant errors still remain. The mitigation of radiation damage by line focusing was measured experimentally by comparing the damage in the X-ray-irradiated regions of the submicrometre focus with the large-beam case under conditions of equal exposure and equal volumes of the protein crystal, and a mitigation factor of 4.4 ± 0.4 was determined. The mitigation of radiation damage is caused by spatial separation of the dominant PE radiation-damage component from the crystal region of the line-focus beam that contributes the diffraction signal. The diffraction signal is generated by coherent scattering of incident X-rays (which introduces no damage), while the overwhelming proportion of damage is caused by PE emission as X-ray photons are absorbed.

Crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction analysis of the glucuronoyl esterase catalytic domain from Hypocrea jecorina

The catalytic domain of the glucuronoyl esterase from Hypocrea jecorina (anamorph Trichoderma reesei) was overexpresssed, purified and crystallized by the sitting-drop vapor-diffusion method using 1.4 M sodium/potassium phosphate pH 6.9. The crystals belonged to space group P2(1)2(1)2(1) and X-ray diffraction data were collected to 1.9 A resolution. This is the first enzyme with glucoronoyl esterase activity to be crystallized; its structure will be valuable in lignocellulose-degradation research.