Removal of salt from a salt-induced protein crystal without cross-linking. Preliminary examination of "desalted" crystals of phosphoglucomutase by X-ray crystallography at low temperature.

A model procedure for removing salt from relatively fragile salt-induced protein crystals is proposed. The procedure is based on physical principles and is validated by using millimeter-size crystals of rabbit muscle phosphoglucomutase grown from a 2.1 M solution of ammonium sulfate. Three types of operations are included in the procedure: initial transfer to salt solutions of reduced concentration; transfer to the organic-rich phase of an equilibrium biphasic mixture obtained with aqueous solutions of polyoxyethylene and the salt; and addition of various replacement cosolutes in aqueous solutions of polyoxyethylene to reduce osmotic stress on the crystal as the remaining salt is removed. A critical feature of the overall procedure is maintenance of near equilibrium throughout by using a large number of steps involving small changes in solute concentration. The conditions used in the actual transfer were adjusted to eliminate the fracturing of crystals by visually distinguishing between two opposing types of fracture patterns: those produced by osmotic crushing as opposed to osmotic expansion. Basic requirements for a successful procedure with other protein crystals are a high permeability toward small solutes and a relatively slow dissolution rate at salt concentrations for which biphasic mixtures can be obtained. Desalted crystals of phosphoglucomutase have no visible fractures, are stable in the final solution for at least a week, and exhibit no noticeable change in the resolution of their X-ray diffraction pattern. In fact, desalted crystals can be rapidly cooled to 160 K, whereas untreated crystals are almost completely disordered by the same cooling procedure. The component of the desalting mixture whose presence is crucial to the success of the cooling process is polyoxyethylene, which apparently impedes the formation of ice within the protein crystal. Diffraction data obtained with an area-detector diffractometer did not differ significantly, either in terms of quality or resolution range, between crystals in 2.3 M ammonium sulfate at room temperature and crystals at 160 K in which ammonium sulfate had been replaced by glycine. The successful use of the following replacement solutes, instead of glycine, also is documented: sucrose, glycerol, and a low molecular weight poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG-400).     

Crystallization and preliminary x-ray investigation of soybean beta-amylase.

Beta-Amylase [1, 4-alpha-D-glucan maltohydrolase, EC 3.2.1.2] has been purified from defatted soybean meal by fractional precipation with ammonium sulfate, ion-exchange chromatography on CM- and DEAE-Sephadex and gel filtration chromatography on Sephadex G-100. Two different components of beta-amylase were crystallized from ammonium sulfate solutions, and the homogeneity of each preparation was confirmed by sedimentation and disc electrophoretic analyses. Both components of soybean beta-amylase formed large single crystals (trigonal crystal system) from 40--50 per cent saturated ammonium sulfate solution buffered at pH 5.4 on dialyzing concentrated protein solution in the apparatus of Zeppezauer et al. Preliminary X-ray diffraction data gave a hexagonal lattice with unit cell dimensions a=86.1 A and c=144.4 A. The space group corresponds to P3121 or P3221, and one asymmetric unit contains one molecule of beta-amylase, assuming a crystal density of 1.25 g/ml and a molecular weight of the enzyme of 60,000 daltons. In this case, the crystal has a volume of 2.53 A-3 per atomic mass unit, and the percentage of protein in the crystal is about 52.     

Structure of a second crystal form of Bence-Jones protein Loc: strikingly different domain associations in two crystal forms of a single protein

We have determined the structure of the immunoglobulin light-chain dimer Loc in a second crystal form that was grown from distilled water. The crystal structure was determined to 2.8-A resolution; the R factor is 0.22. The two variable domains are related by local 2-fold axes and form an antigen binding "pocket". The variable domain-variable domain interaction observed in this crystal form differs from the one exhibited by the protein when crystallized from ammonium sulfate in which the two variable domains formed a protrusion (Chang et al., 1985). The structure attained in the distilled water crystals is similar to, but not identical with, the one observed for the Mcg light-chain dimer in crystals grown from ammonium sulfate. Thus, two strikingly different structures were attained by this multisubunit protein in crystals grown under two different, commonly used, crystallization techniques. The quaternary interactions exhibited by the protein in the two crystal forms are sufficiently different to suggest fundamentally different interpretations of the structural basis for the function of this protein. This observation may have general implications regarding the use of single crystallographic determinations for detailed identification of structural and functional relationships. On the other hand, proteins whose structures can be altered by manipulation of crystallization conditions may provide useful systems for study of fundamental structural chemistry.     

Preliminary studies on the crystallization of beef heart cytochrome c oxidase by vapor diffusion

Beef heart cytochrome c oxidase has been crystallized in its native and delipidated forms, using the hanging drop vapor diffusion method. The delipidated oxidase, which is subunit III deficient, can be crystallized in rosettes using this method from a medium containing zinc chloride as well as ammonium sulfate. The crystals give a protein 'powder' pattern on preliminary X-ray analysis. The crystals initially grow rapidly but stop growing at a small size probably as a result of addition of heterogeneous material at the crystal surface.     

Strategies for the crystallization of viruses: using phase diagrams and gels to produce 3D crystals of Grapevine fanleaf virus

The small icosahedral plant RNA nepovirus Grapevine fanleaf virus (GFLV) is specifically transmitted by a nematode and causes major damage to vineyards worldwide. To elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying the recognition between the surface of its protein capsid and cellular components of its vector, host and viral proteins synthesized upon infection, the wild type GFLV strain F13 and a natural mutant (GFLV-TD) carrying a Gly???Asp mutation were purified, characterized and crystallized. Subsequently, the geometry and volume of their crystals was optimized by establishing phase diagrams. GFLV-TD was twice as soluble as the parent virus in the crystallization solution and its crystals diffracted X-rays to a resolution of 2.7 ?. The diffraction limit of GFLV-F13 crystals was extended from 5.5 to 3 ? by growth in agarose gel. Preliminary crystallographic analyses indicate that both types of crystals are suitable for structure determination. Keys for the successful production of GFLV crystals include the rigorous quality control of virus preparations, crystal quality improvement using phase diagrams, and crystal lattice reinforcement by growth in agarose gel. These strategies are applicable to the production of well-diffracting crystals of other viruses and macromolecular assemblies.     

Influence of ammonium ions on calcite and struvite formation byazotobacter in chemically defined media

The formation of calcite and struvite crystals byAzotobacter vinelandii andA.chroococcum was studied on chemically defined media. The crystals were identified microscopically and by X-ray differentiation analysis. Calcite crystal formation was inhibited specifically with 0.05 % ammonium sulfate. However, 0.2 % ammonium sulfate was required for struvite crystal formation.     

Crystallization studies of glycosylated and unglycosylated human recombinant interleukin-2.

Glycosylated interleukin-2 (glyIL-2) has been crystallized in two crystal forms, and unglycosylated interleukin-2 (uIL-2) has been crystallized in three forms. The glycosylated form of the human recombinant IL-2 has been crystallized from 1.9 M ammonium sulfate, pH 6.5 to 7.0 in the hexagonal space group P6(2)22 or its enantiomorph. The crystals diffract to 2.8 A and contain two or three molecules per asymmetric unit. A second crystal form grows from 1.4 to 1.5 M ammonium sulfate in 0.2 M ammonium acetate, pH 5.0-5.5, as polycrystalline rosettes which are not suitable for even a preliminary crystallographic analysis. The uIL-2 crystallizes from 1.0 to 1.7 M ammonium sulfate, 0.2 M ammonium acetate, pH 4.5-5.6 in the monoclinic space group P2(1), and less frequently in the orthorhombic space group P2(1)2(1)2(1) from 2.5 M ammonium sulfate, pH 4.5 to 5.7. Cross-seeding uIL-2 with seeds from hexagonal crystals of glyIL-2 promotes nucleation of trigonal crystals of unglycosylated IL-2. These trigonal crystals belong to the space group P3(1)21 or its enantiomorph, with similar cell dimensions to the glyIL-2 hexagonal crystals.     

Crystallization and a preliminary X-ray crystallographic study of alpha-amylase from Bacillus licheniformis

alpha-Amylase from Bacillus licheniformis has been crystallized by the hanging-drop vapor diffusion method in the presence of calcium ions using ammonium sulfate as precipitant. The crystals are tetragonal, belonging to the space group P4(1)2(1)2 (or P4(3)2(1)2), with unit cell dimensions of a = 119.9 and c = 85.4 A. The asymmetric unit contains one molecule of alpha-amylase, with a crystal volume per protein mass (VM) of 2.78 A3/Da. The crystals diffract to better than 2.0 A Bragg spacing when exposed to synchrotron X-rays and they are reasonably stable in the X-ray beam. Thus the crystals are suitable for structure determination at high resolution by X-ray methods.     

Kinetics and equilibria of lysozyme precipitation and crystallization in concentrated ammonium sulfate solutions

The kinetics and thermodynamics of lysozyme precipitation in ammonium sulfate solutions at pH 4 and 8 and room temperature were studied. X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) was used to characterize the structure of lysozyme precipitates. It was found that, if sufficient time was allowed, microcrystals developed following an induction period after initial lysozyme precipitation, even up to ionic strengths of 8 m and at acidic pH, where lysozyme is refractory to crystallization in ammonium sulfate. The full set of precipitation and crystallization data allowed construction of a phase diagram of lysozyme, showing the ammonium sulfate dependence. It suggests that precipitation may reflect a frustrated metastable liquid-liquid phase separation, which would allow this process to be understood within the framework of the generic phase diagram for proteins. The results also demonstrate that XRD, more frequently used for characterizing inorganic and organic polycrystalline materials, is useful both in characterizing the presence of crystals in the dense phase and in verifying the crystal form of proteins.     

Amine Oxidases of Microorganisms

A procedure for obtaining crystalline preparations of the amine oxidase of Aspergillus niger has been developed. The method involved fractionations with ammonium sulfate and separation on successive columns of DEAE-cellulose, DEAE-sephadex and hydroxyl-apatite. Crystals were formed when solid ammonium sulfate was added to solutions of the purified enzyme (of about 300- to 350-times the specific activity of the crude mycelium extract). The crystals appeared as fine rods, with a faint pink color. The crystals had a specific activity around 10,000 which was about 20 times as active as that of crystalline preparations of the animal monoamine oxidase.     

Cholecalciferol sulfate identification in human milk by HPLC

Synthetic vitamin D3 sulfate was prepared by reacting cholecalciferol with sulfamic acid in pyridine. Vitamin D3 sulfate ammonium salt was purified by crystallisation and transformed in sulfate sodium salt. Homogeneity was controlled by reverse phase high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC). Purified synthetic vitamin D3 sulfate sodium salt was used as a reference. Milk whey was obtained after protein precipitation by adding ethanol. Vitamin D3 sulfoconjugate was identified in supernatant (lyophylized) after purification by Sephadex LH 20 and HPLC. Milk whey purified fraction obtained exhibited the same ultra-violet absorption (UV) as synthetic vitamin D3 sulfate; after solvolysis, cholecalciferol was liberated from natural and synthetic sulfoconjugate. The results confirmed that vitamin D3 sulfate was present in human milk.     

Crystallization, preliminary X-ray study and crystal activity of the hydrogenase from Desulfovibrio gigas

Hydrogenase (EC 1.12) from Desulfovibrio gigas is a dimeric enzyme (26 and 62 (X 10(3) Mr) that catalyzes the reversible oxidation of molecular hydrogen. Single crystals of hydrogenase have been produced using the hanging drop method, with either PEG (polyethylene glycol) 6000 or ammonium sulfate as precipitants at pH 6.5. X-ray examination of the crystals indicates that those obtained with ammonium sulfate are suitable for structure determination to at least 3.0 A resolution when synchrotron radiation Sources are used (1 A = 0.1 nm). The crystals are monoclinic, with space group C2, and cell dimensions a = 257.0 A, b = 184.7 A, c = 148.3 A and beta = 101.3 degrees, and contain between four and ten molecules per asymmetric unit. The enzyme can be reactivated within the crystals under reducing conditions without crystal damage.     

Crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction studies of aSFP, a bovine seminal plasma protein with a single CUB domain architecture.

Bovine acidic seminal fluid protein (aSFP) is a 1.29 kDa polypeptide of the spermadhesin family built by a single CUB domain architecture. The CUB domain is an extracellular module present in 16 functionally diverse proteins. To determine the three-dimensional structure of aSFP, the protein was crystallized at 21 degrees C by vapor diffusion in hanging drops, using ammonium sulfate, pH 4.7, and polyethyleneglycol 4,000 as precipitants, containing 10% dioxane to avoid the formation of clustered crystals. Elongated prismatic crystals with maximal size of 0.6 x 0.3 x 0.2 mm3 diffract to beyond 1.9 A resolution and belong to space group P2(1)2(1)2(1), with cell parameters a = 52.4 A, b = 41.5 A, c = 48.2 A. There is one aSFP molecule per asymmetric unit, which corresponds to a crystal volume per unit molecular mass of 2.04 A3/Da, and analytical ultracentrifugation analysis show that aSFP is a monomeric protein.     

新型抑菌蛋白APn5抑制胡萝卜软腐欧文氏菌

[目的]魔芋软腐病是一种由胡萝卜软腐欧文氏菌引起的病害,严重影响了魔芋产业的发展.枯草芽胞杆菌BSn5所产生的蛋白APn5对胡萝卜欧文氏菌具有良好的抑菌效果,本文将对该蛋白进行鉴定和性质分析.[方法]用饱和度为30%的硫酸铵沉淀和超滤离心的方法从枯草芽胞杆菌BSn5的发酵上清液中分离纯化APn5蛋白.以滤纸片法检测APn5蛋白的抑菌谱.用不同的温度、pH条件和蛋白酶处理APn5蛋白,并检测其抑菌活性变化.测定菌株BSn5的生长周期,同步检测其发酵上清液的抑菌活性.利用基质协助激光解吸附离子化-飞行时间质谱(MALDI-TOF-MS)和电喷雾四极杆飞行时间串联质谱(Q-TOF)分析APn5蛋白.[结果]APn5蛋白对于魔芋软腐病菌具有较好的抑菌活性,抑菌谱较窄,主要对细菌性植物病原菌具有较强的抑制作用;对高温敏感,对蛋白酶E敏感,对蛋白酶K和胰蛋白酶部分敏感;在酸性环境下其抑菌活性稳定,碱性环境下活性不稳定.在菌株BSn5的生长周期中,该蛋白的抑菌活性不能稳定存在,其发酵上清液在对数生长期抑菌活性逐渐升高,进入稳定期后抑菌活性开始下降,直至完全消失.质谱分析未发现其与已知蛋白具有高度相关性.[结论]APn5蛋白具有不同于已报道的枯草芽胞杆菌所产生的抑菌物质的性质,推测为一种新型的抑菌蛋白.     

Efficient Production of Casoxin D,a Bradykinin Agonist Peptide Derived from Human Casein,by Bacillus brevis

We efficiently produced a small peptide by the host-vector system using Bacillus brevis as a host. DNA encoding the physiologically functional casoxin D, composed of seven amino acids, was ligated in tandem. An expression-secretion vector containing DNA, which codes for a fusion protein of epidermal growth factor-casoxin D pentamer, was constructed. B. brevis transformed with this plasmid produced about 0.5 g/liter of the fusion protein in the culture supernatant. The fusion protein was purified with ammonium sulfate fractionation from the supernatant and digested with two kinds of proteinases. A peptide well separated by high pressure liquid chromatography was identified as biologically active casoxin D.     

Phase behavior of a monoacylglycerol: (myverol 18-99K)/water system

The phase behavior of Myverol 18-99K, a food emulsifier rich in monoacylglycerols, in combination with water has been determined. X-ray diffraction and polarized light microscopy (PLM) were used for phase identification and structure characterization. Phase behavior was established in the temperature range from -15 to 50 degrees C and in the composition range from dry to full hydration. Phases identified include the solid lamellar crystal (Lc) phase, the liquid fluid isotropic phase and three liquid crystal phases, the lamellar liquid crystal, the cubic-Ia3d and the cubic-Pn3m phase. Phase information is reported in the form of temperature-composition phase diagrams. It was collected under equilibrium conditions where measurements were made in the heating direction beginning with the Lc phase at -15 degrees C. Phase metastability was also examined in which the natural tendency of the liquid crystal phases to undercool was facilitated. Under this condition, both cubic phases were found to remain free of the solid Lc phase over a relatively wide range of hydration values down to 0 degrees C. The microstructure of the different phases and its dependence on temperature and hydration has been determined. Compositional analysis using thin layer chromatography and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry shows that Myverol 18-99K consists of 82% monoacylglycerols (86.6% monoolein, 7. 0% monostearin, 3.5% monopalmitin, 0.9% monoarachidin, 2.0% unidentified). The equilibrium and metastable phase diagrams of the Myverol 18-99K/water system show remarkable similarity to those reported for the monoolein/water system (Qiu, H., Caffrey, M., 2000. The phase diagram of the monoolein/water system: metastability and equilibrium aspects Biomaterials 21, 223-594.).     

Crystallization and preliminary X-ray crystallographic analysis of Mirabilis antiviral protein.

Mirabilis antiviral protein is a single-chain ribosome-inactivating protein purified from the tuberous root of Mirabilis jalapa L. We obtained several forms of crystals of the protein by the hanging drop vapor diffusion method, but most of these crystals were not suitable for X-ray crystallography. After refining the growth conditions, crystals of crystallographic quality were grown in 20-microliters droplets of an equi-volume mixture of 1.5% (w/v) protein solution and a reservoir solution containing 49 to 50% (w/v) ammonium sulfate and 50 mM-ammonium citrate (pH 5.4) at room temperature. Addition of 2 mM-adenine sulfate reduced twinning and "crystal shower". The resulting trigonal crystals diffract beyond 2.5 A resolution using a rotating anode X-ray generator. The space group was determined to be P3(1)21 or P3(2)21 (a = b = 103.9.A, c = 134.6 A, alpha = beta = 90 degrees, gamma = 120 degrees) based on their precession photography of h0l and hk0 zones. There seems to be three monomers in an asymmetric unit for VM = 2.51 A3/Da.     

Protein purification by bulk crystallization: the recovery of ovalbumin

Crystallization is used industrially for the recovery and purification of many inorganic and organic materials. However, very little is reported on the application of bulk crystallization for proteins. In this work, ovalbumin was selected as a model protein to investigate the feasibility of using bulk crystallization for the recovery and purification of proteins. A stirred 1-L seeded batch crystallizer was used to obtain the crystal growth kinetics of ovalbumin in ammonium sulfate solutions at 30 degrees C. The width of the metastable region, in which crystal growth can occur without any nucleation, is equivalent to a relative supersaturation of about 20. The bulk crystallizations were undertaken within this range (using initial relative supersaturations less than 10) and nucleation was not observed. The ovalbumin concentration in solution was measured by UV absorbance and checked by crystal content measurement. Crystal size distributions were measured both by using a Malvern Mastersizer and by counting crystals through a microscope. The crystal growth rate was found to have a second-order dependence upon the ovalbumin supersaturation. While there is no discernible effect of ammonium sulfate concentration at pH 4.90, there is a slight effect at higher pH values. Overall the effect of ammonium sulfate concentration is small compared to the effect of pH, for which there is a 10-fold increase in the growth rate constant, k(Gsigma) over the range pH 4.6-5.4. To demonstrate the degree of purification which can be achieved by bulk crystallization, ovalbumin was crystallized from a solution containing conalbumin (80,000 Da) and lysozyme (14, 600 Da). After one crystallization and a crystal wash, ovalbumin crystals were produced with a protein purity greater than 99%. No contamination by the other proteins was observed when using overloaded sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) stained with Coomassie blue stain and only trace amounts of lysozyme were observed using a silver stain. The presence of these other proteins in solution did not effect the crystal growth rate constant, k(Gsigma). The study demonstrates the feasibility of using bulk crystallization for the recovery and purification of ovalbumin. It should be readily applicable to other protein systems. (c) 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Crystallization of salt-free chymotrypsinogen and chymotrypsin from solution in dilute ethyl alcohol

Chymotrypsinogen and chymotrypsin crystallize readily from dilute solutions of ethyl alcohol in the absence of salts. The crystals formed in the presence of alcohol differ in appearance from those formed in the presence of ammonium sulfate. Chymotrypsinogen yields well formed polyhedrons instead of fine needles usually produced in ammonium sulfate solution. Chymotrypsin yields fine needles in the presence of alcohol and rhombohedrons in the presence of ammonium sulfate. The enzymatic properties of the crystals formed in the presence of alcohol are identical with those of the crystals isolated in the presence of ammonium sulfate.