Crystallographic study of a MATE transporter presents a difficult case in structure determination with low‐resolution, anisotropic data and crystal twinning. (1st November 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Symersky, Jindrich; Guo, Yi; Wang, Jimin; Lu, Min
• Is Part Of: Acta crystallographica. Volume 71:Part 11(2015:Nov.)
• Page Start: 2287
• Page End: 2296
• Publication Date: 2015-11-01
• Subjects: multidrug resistance -- MATE transporter -- data anisotropy -- twinning -- difference Fourier analysis; Biomolecules -- Structure -- Periodicals; Physical biochemistry -- Periodicals; X-ray crystallography -- Periodicals; Crystallography -- Periodicals; 572
• DOI: 10.1107/S1399004715016995
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0907-4449

Abstract

Abstract : NorM from Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NorM‐NG) belongs to the multidrug and toxic compound extrusion (MATE) family of membrane‐transport proteins, which can extrude cytotoxic chemicals across cell membranes and confer multidrug resistance. Here, the structure determination of NorM‐NG is described, which had been hampered by low resolution (∼4 Å), data anisotropy and pseudo‐merohedral twinning. The crystal structure was solved using molecular replacement and was corroborated by conducting a difference Fourier analysis. The NorM‐NG structure displays an extracellular‐facing conformation, similar to that of NorM‐NG bound to a crystallization chaperone. The approaches taken to determine the NorM‐NG structure and the lessons learned from this study are discussed, which may be useful for analyzing X‐ray diffraction data with similar shortcomings.