Taro Tamada

Crystallization of Δ1-tetrahydrocannabinolic acid (THCA) synthase from Cannabis sativa

Delta1-Tetrahydrocannabinolic acid (THCA) synthase is a novel oxidoreductase that catalyzes the biosynthesis of the psychoactive compound THCA in Cannabis sativa (Mexican strain). In order to investigate the structure-function relationship of THCA synthase, this enzyme was overproduced in insect cells, purified and finally crystallized in 0.1 M HEPES buffer pH 7.5 containing 1.4 M sodium citrate. A single crystal suitable for X-ray diffraction measurement was obtained in 0.09 M HEPES buffer pH 7.5 containing 1.26 M sodium citrate. The crystal diffracted to 2.7 A resolution at beamline BL41XU, SPring-8. The crystal belonged to the primitive cubic space group P432, with unit-cell parameters a = b = c = 178.2 A. The calculated Matthews coefficient was approximately 4.1 or 2.0 A3 Da(-1) assuming the presence of one or two molecules of THCA synthase in the asymmetric unit, respectively.

New data reduction protocol for Bragg reflections observed by TOF single-crystal neutron diffractometry for protein crystals with large unit cells

In protein crystallography, high backgrounds are caused by incoherent scattering from the hydrogen atoms of protein molecules and hydration water. In addition, the scattering intensity from large unit-cell crystals is very small, which makes it difficult to improve the signal-to-noise ratio. In the case of time-of-flight (TOF) single-crystal neutron diffractometry, the measured spectra cover four-dimensional space including X, Y, and TOF in addition to intensity. When estimating the integrated intensity, 3D background domains in the vicinity of peaks should be clearly classified. In conventional 1D or 2D background evaluation, the evaluation is applied for individual peaks assigned using peak searches; however, it is quite difficult to classify the 3D background domain in TOF protein single-crystal neutron diffraction experiments. We undertook the development of a data reduction protocol for measurements involving large biomacromolecules. At the initial stage of the reduction protocol, appropriate 3D background estimation and eliminations were applied over the entire range of X, Y, and TOF bins. The histograms were then searched for peaks and indexed, and the individually assigned peaks were finally integrated with an effective profile function in the TOF direction. Three-dimensional deconvolution procedures for overlapping peaks associated with large unit cells were implemented as necessary. This data reduction protocol may lead to the improvement of signal-to-noise ratios to enable TOF spectral analysis of large unit-cell protein crystals.

Evaluation of the Resolvable Capacity of Bragg Reflections for a New Diffractometer at J-PARC/MLF Designed for Protein Crystals With Large Unit Cells

We aim to build a high-resolution neutron time-of-flight diffractometer for biomacromolecules at the Materials and Life Science Experimental Facility (MLF) at the Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex (J-PARC) that allows the collection of neutron diffraction data from crystals with unit cells of ≈250 A. Considering both the flux and pulse width necessary to realize data collection covering a minimum d-spacing of 2.0 A and with a unit cell constant of ≈250 A, we chose a decoupled moderator (DM) as the appropriate source for this high-resolution diffractometer. We considered a simple instrumentation model that includes a moderator, neutron guide, sample size, and neutron detector; we then investigated its spot separation performance and estimated the instrumental parameters for the design of a new diffractometer for protein crystals with large unit cells at J-PARC/MLF.