Shin-ichi Adachi

The RIKEN structural biology beamline II (BL44B2) at the SPring-8

A SPring-8 bending magnet beamline, the RIKEN structural biology beamline II (BL44B2), is dedicated to monochromatic/Laue macromolecular crystallography and X-ray absorption fine structure studies. The design and the performance of the beamline are presented. # 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction analysis of a cytochrome P450 (CYP119) from Sulfolobus solfataricus

CYP119 is a cytochrome P450 with a molecular weight of 43 kDa which has been isolated from the thermophilic archaeon Sulfolobus solfataricus. This enzyme is extremely stable to high temperature and high pressure. The first crystallization and preliminary crystallographic study of CYP119 is reported here. Crystals of CYP119 were obtained by the sitting-drop vapour-diffusion method using a precipitant solution containing 20%(w/v) PEG 4000 and 0.2 M sodium thiocyanate at pH 6.4. Using synchrotron radiation, the CYP119 crystal diffracted to 1.84 A resolution. It belongs to the tetragonal space group P4(3)2(1)2, with unit-cell parameters a = b = 86.17 (0.07), c = 221.11 (0.04) A, in which the numbers in parentheses describe the standard deviations. Assuming two molecules of the CYP119 per asymmetric unit, the calculated molar volume (V(m)) is 2.38 A(3) Da(-1). Bijvoet and dispersive anomalous difference Patterson maps show a clear peak corresponding to the haem irons. The complete crystallographically defined structure is currently in progress using MIR (multiple isomorphous replacement) and MAD (multiwavelength anomalous diffraction) techniques.

X-ray structure of nitric oxide reductase (cytochrome P450nor) at atomic resolution.

Crystal structures of the nitric oxide reductase cytochrome P450nor (P450nor) in the ferric resting and the ferrous carbonmonoxy (CO) states have been determined at 1.00 and 1.05 A resolution, respectively. P450nor consists of 403 amino-acid residues (46 kDa) and is one of the largest proteins refined to this resolution so far. The final models have conventional R factors of 10.2% (ferric resting) and 11.7% (ferrous CO), with mean coordinate errors of 0.028 (ferric resting) and 0.030 A (ferrous CO) as calculated from inversion of the full positional least-squares matrix. Owing to the atomic resolution, novel features are found in the refined structures. Firstly, two orientations of the haem are observed both in the ferric resting and the ferrous CO states. Secondly, a disordered water molecule bound to the haem iron is found in the ferric resting state. In addition, the accurate structures at atomic resolution enabled the examination of general stereochemical parameters that are commonly used in refinement cycles of protein structures.

Crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction analysis of a rat biliverdin reductase.

Biliverdin reductase (BVR) catalyzes the final step of haem degradation and converts biliverdin to bilirubin using NAD(P)H as an electron donor. This paper deals with the first crystallization and preliminary crystallographic study of recombinant rat BVR expressed in Escherichia coli. Crystals of BVR were obtained by the sitting-drop vapour-diffusion method. Using synchrotron radiation at station BL44B2 of SPring-8, Japan, BVR diffraction data were collected to 1.6 A resolution. Crystals belong to the orthorhombic space group P2(1)2(1)2(1), with unit-cell parameters a = 58.89, b = 70.41, c = 87.76 A. The complete determination of the crystallographic structure is currently in progress using MAD (multiwavelength anomalous diffraction) data from an Ir-derivative crystal.