Mutagenesis of the crystal contact of acidic fibroblast growth factor

Several mutations at Glu81 located on the crystal contact of human acidic fibroblast growth factor were studied in an effort to improve crystal growth. Mutation to Ser and Thr resulted in crystallization of a rather bulky form of the wild type, whereas mutation to Val prohibited crystallization. These results suggest that crystal growth may be controlled by designing a new interface by protein engineering