Crystallization of a nickel-containing superoxide dismutase and preliminary phase determination by MAD at the Ni K edge

Acta Crystallogr D Biol Crystallogr. 2002 Jul;58(Pt 7):1220-3. doi: 10.1107/s0907444902007345. Epub 2002 Jun 20.

Abstract

Superoxide dismutases are metalloenzymes which catalyse the disproportion of superoxide radicals and thus play an important role in the protection of biomolecules from oxidative damage. Redox-active metal ions known to act as the catalytic centre of these enzymes are Cu, Mn or Fe. Recently, enzymes containing Ni have been found in various Streptomyces species, introducing a fourth type of metal ion to the superoxide dismutase family. NiSOD has been crystallized for the purpose of structure determination by X-ray crystallography using Ni as an anomalous scatterer in multiple-wavelength anomalous dispersion (MAD) experiments. Two crystal forms belonging to space group P2(1)2(1)2(1) and one belonging to space group R3 were obtained using ammonium sulfate as a precipitant. Patterson maps of one of the orthorhombic forms revealed the presence of pseudo-translation, which could be removed for the other orthorhombic form by using 10% glycerol in its crystallization conditions. In addition, this reduced the unit cell by half. Phase information which led to interpretable electron-density maps was derived from MAD data to 2.0 A resolution after density modification applying solvent flattening, histogram matching and NCS averaging. Phases were extended to 1.68 A resolution with a data set collected at a wavelength of 1 A. Model building based on the resulting electron-density maps is in progress.

MeSH terms

  • Catalytic Domain
  • Crystallography, X-Ray / methods*
  • Electrons
  • Nickel / chemistry*
  • Oxidation-Reduction
  • Streptomyces / enzymology
  • Superoxide Dismutase / chemistry*

Substances

  • Nickel
  • Superoxide Dismutase