N-terminal truncation enables crystallization of the receptor-binding domain of the FedF bacterial adhesin

Acta Crystallogr Sect F Struct Biol Cryst Commun. 2006 Dec 1;62(Pt 12):1278-82. doi: 10.1107/S1744309106049281. Epub 2006 Nov 30.

Abstract

FedF is the two-domain tip adhesin of F18 fimbriae from enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli. Bacterial adherence, mediated by the N-terminal receptor-binding domain of FedF to carbohydrate receptors on intestinal microvilli, causes diarrhoea and oedema disease in newly weaned piglets and induces the secretion of Shiga toxins. A truncate containing only the receptor-binding domain of FedF was found to be further cleaved at its N-terminus. Reconstruction of this N-terminal truncate rendered FedF amenable to crystallization, resulting in crystals with space group P2(1)2(1)2(1) and unit-cell parameters a = 36.20, b = 74.64, c = 99.03 A that diffracted to beyond 2 A resolution. The binding specificity of FedF was screened for on a glycan array, exposing 264 glycoconjugates, to identify specific receptors for cocrystallization with FedF.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adhesins, Bacterial / chemistry*
  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Cloning, Molecular
  • Crystallization
  • Crystallography, X-Ray
  • Escherichia coli Proteins / chemistry*
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Peptide Fragments / chemistry
  • Protein Structure, Tertiary
  • Receptors, Immunologic / chemistry
  • Receptors, Immunologic / metabolism
  • Sequence Alignment

Substances

  • Adhesins, Bacterial
  • Escherichia coli Proteins
  • FedF protein, E coli
  • Peptide Fragments
  • Receptors, Immunologic
  • bacterial adhesin receptor