Solving a new R2lox protein structure by microcrystal electron diffraction

Sci Adv. 2019 Aug 7;5(8):eaax4621. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.aax4621. eCollection 2019 Aug.

Abstract

Microcrystal electron diffraction (MicroED) has recently shown potential for structural biology. It enables the study of biomolecules from micrometer-sized 3D crystals that are too small to be studied by conventional x-ray crystallography. However, to date, MicroED has only been applied to redetermine protein structures that had already been solved previously by x-ray diffraction. Here, we present the first new protein structure-an R2lox enzyme-solved using MicroED. The structure was phased by molecular replacement using a search model of 35% sequence identity. The resulting electrostatic scattering potential map at 3.0-Å resolution was of sufficient quality to allow accurate model building and refinement. The dinuclear metal cofactor could be located in the map and was modeled as a heterodinuclear Mn/Fe center based on previous studies. Our results demonstrate that MicroED has the potential to become a widely applicable tool for revealing novel insights into protein structure and function.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Archaeal Proteins / chemistry*
  • Archaeal Proteins / genetics
  • Archaeal Proteins / metabolism
  • Crystallography, X-Ray
  • Flavoproteins / chemistry*
  • Flavoproteins / genetics
  • Flavoproteins / metabolism
  • Metalloproteins / chemistry*
  • Metalloproteins / genetics
  • Metalloproteins / metabolism
  • Protein Structure, Tertiary
  • Recombinant Proteins / biosynthesis
  • Recombinant Proteins / chemistry
  • Recombinant Proteins / isolation & purification
  • Static Electricity
  • Substrate Specificity
  • Sulfolobaceae / metabolism*

Substances

  • Archaeal Proteins
  • Flavoproteins
  • Metalloproteins
  • Recombinant Proteins
  • metalloflavoproteins