Development of a shutterless continuous rotation method using an X-ray CMOS detector for protein crystallography

A shutterless continuous rotation method using an X-ray complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) detector has been developed for high-speed, precise data collection in protein crystallography. The new method and detector were applied to the structure determination of three proteins by multi- and single-wavelength anomalous diffraction phasing and have thereby been proved to be applicable in protein crystallography

Crystal structure of Hfq from Bacillus subtilis in complex with SELEX-derived RNA aptamer: insight into RNA-binding properties of bacterial Hfq

Bacterial Hfq is a protein that plays an important role in the regulation of genes in cooperation with sRNAs. Escherichia coli Hfq (EcHfq) has two or more sites that bind RNA(s) including U-rich and/or the poly(A) tail of mRNA. However, functional and structural information about Bacillus subtilis Hfq (BsHfq) including the RNA sequences that specifically bind to it remain unknown. Here, we describe RNA aptamers including fragment (AG)3A that are recognized by BsHfq and crystal structures of the BsHfq–(AG)3A complex at 2.2 Å resolution. Mutational and structural studies revealed that the RNA fragment binds to the distal site, one of the two binding sites on Hfq, and identified amino acid residues that are critical for sequence-specific interactions between BsHfq and (AG)3A. In particular, R32 appears to interact with G bases in (AG)3A. Poly(A) also binds to the distal site of EcHfq, but the overall RNA structure and protein–RNA interaction patterns engaged in the R32 residues of BsHfq–(AG)3A differ from those of EcHfq–poly(A). These findings provide novel insight into how the Hfq homologue recognizes RNA

Solution structure and functional importance of a conserved RNA hairpin of eel LINE UnaL2

The eel long interspersed element (LINE) UnaL2 and its partner short interspersed element (SINE) share a conserved 3′ tail that is critical for their retrotransposition. The predicted secondary structure of the conserved 3′ tail of UnaL2 RNA contains a stem region with a putative internal loop. Deletion of the putative internal loop region abolishes UnaL2 mobilization, indicating that this putative internal loop is required for UnaL2 retrotransposition; the exact role of the putative internal loop in retrotransposition, however, has not been elucidated. To establish a structure-based foundation on which to address the issue of the putative internal loop function in retrotransposition, we used NMR to determine the solution structure of a 36 nt RNA derived from the 3′ conserved tail of UnaL2. The region forms a compact structure containing a single bulged cytidine and a U–U mismatch. The bulge and mismatch region have conformational flexibility and molecular dynamics simulation indicate that the entire stem of the 3′ conserved tail RNA can anisotropically fluctuate at the bulge and mismatch region. Our structural and mutational analyses suggest that stem flexibility contributes to UnaL2 function and that the bulged cytidine and the U–U mismatch are required for efficient retrotransposition

An oxyl/oxo mechanism for dioxygen bond formation in PSII revealed by X-ray free electron lasers

Photosynthetic water oxidation is catalyzed by the Mn4CaO5 cluster of photosystem II (PSII) with linear progression through five S-state intermediates (S0 to S4). To reveal the mechanism of water oxidation, we analyzed structures of PSII in the S1, S2, and S3 states by x-ray free-electron laser serial crystallography. No insertion of water was found in S2, but flipping of D1 Glu189 upon transition to S3 leads to the opening of a water channel and provides a space for incorporation of an additional oxygen ligand, resulting in an open cubane Mn4CaO6 cluster with an oxyl/oxo bridge. Structural changes of PSII between the different S states reveal cooperative action of substrate water access, proton release, and dioxygen formation in photosynthetic water oxidation

Single crystal spectroscopy and multiple structures from one crystal (MSOX) define catalysis in copper nitrite reductases

Many enzymes utilize redox-coupled centers for performing catalysis where these centers are used to control and regulate the transfer of electrons required for catalysis, whose untimely delivery can lead to a state incapable of binding the substrate, i.e., a dead-end enzyme. Copper nitrite reductases (CuNiRs), which catalyze the reduction of nitrite to nitric oxide (NO), have proven to be a good model system for studying these complex processes including proton-coupled electron transfer (ET) and their orchestration for substrate binding/utilization. Recently, a two-domain CuNiR from a Rhizobia species (Br2DNiR) has been discovered with a substantially lower enzymatic activity where the catalytic type-2 Cu (T2Cu) site is occupied by two water molecules requiring their displacement for the substrate nitrite to bind. Single crystal spectroscopy combined with MSOX (multiple structures from one crystal) for both the as-isolated and nitrite-soaked crystals clearly demonstrate that inter-Cu ET within the coupled T1Cu-T2Cu redox system is heavily gated. Laser-flash photolysis and optical spectroscopy showed rapid ET from photoexcited NADH to the T1Cu center but little or no inter-Cu ET in the absence of nitrite. Furthermore, incomplete reoxidation of the T1Cu site (∼20% electrons transferred) was observed in the presence of nitrite, consistent with a slow formation of NO species in the serial structures of the MSOX movie obtained from the nitrite-soaked crystal, which is likely to be responsible for the lower activity of this CuNiR. Our approach is of direct relevance for studying redox reactions in a wide range of biological systems including metalloproteins that make up at least 30% of all proteins

Solution structure of an RNA stem–loop derived from the 3′ conserved region of eel LINE UnaL2

The eel long interspersed element (LINE) UnaL2 and its partner short interspersed element (SINE) share a conserved 3′ tail containing a stem–loop that is critical for their retrotransposition. Presumably, the first step of retrotransposition is the recognition of their 3′ tails by UnaL2-encoded reverse transcriptase. The solution structure of a 17-nucleotide RNA derived from the 3′ tail of UnaL2 was determined by NMR. The GGAUA loop forms a specific structure in which the uridine is exposed to solvent with the third and fifth adenosines stacked. A sharp turn in the phosphodiester backbone occurs between the second guanosine and third adenosine. When the uridine is mutated (but not deleted), all mutants form the loop structure, indicating that the loop structure requires an exposed fourth residue. The retrotransposition assay in HeLa cells revealed that retrotransposition requires the second guanosine, although any nucleoside functions at the fourth position, suggesting that UnaL2 reverse transcriptase specifically recognizes the 5′ side of the GGANA loop

Crystallization and preliminary X-ray analysis of isopentenyl diphosphate isomerase fromMethanocaldococcus jannaschii

En viktig uppgift för SMHI är att ge information om vattenföringen i Sveriges vattendrag. "Vattenföringen i Sveriges floder" utkom 1954. Den sammanställdes av Ragnar Melin och innehöll uppgifter tom är 1950. En ny utgåva, "Vattenföring i Sverige", publicerades 1979. Den innehåller minst 10 år långa mätserier för de vattenföringsstationer som var i drift 1975 samt för vissa tidigare nedlagda stationer. Denna utgåva innehåller vattenföringsuppgifter t o m 1990 för de vattenföringsstationer som var i drift 1990 och som har en mätserie på minst 10 år. SMHI publicerar denna gäng "Vattenföring i Sverige" i fyra delar. Indelningen av Sverige är densamma som i "Arealer för avrinningsområden", som samtidigt är under utgivning. De olika delarna omfattarDel 1 vattendrag som mynnar i BottenvikenDel 2 vattendrag som mynnar i BottenhavetDel 3 vattendrag som mynnar i Egentliga ÖstersjönDel 4 vattendrag som mynnar i Västerhavet ( Öresund, Kattegatt, Skagerrak)

Crystallization and preliminary X-ray analysis of 4-­pyridoxolactonase from Mesorhizobium loti

Recombinant 4-pyridoxolactonase from M. loti MAFF303099 was crystallized in two forms and diffraction data were collected to 2.0 and 1.9 Å resolution, respectively

Expression, crystallization and preliminary crystallographic analysis of the PAS domain of RsbP, a stress-response phosphatase from Bacillus subtilis

The PAS domain of RsbP, a stress-response protein from B. subtilis, was crystallized using the sitting-drop vapour-diffusion method. The crystals belonged to space group P21 and diffraction data were collected to a resolution of 1.6 Å