title: Expression and crystallographic characterization of the extracellular domain of human natural killer cell triggering receptor NKp46.
abstract: Human natural killer (NK) cells are regulated in their cytolytic activity by a delicate interplay between activating and inhibitory signals related to distinct families of triggering and inhibitory receptor proteins. NKp46 is a major NK cell-specific triggering receptor involved in the recognition and lysis of human and murine tumour and virally infected cells. It consists of an extracellular portion, composed of two Ig-like domains, a transmembrane segment and a small cytoplasmic domain. To shed light on the molecular-recognition events involved in NK cytotoxicity triggering mechanisms, the NKp46 extracellular region was cloned, overexpressed, refolded and crystallized. X-ray diffraction data could be collected to a resolution limit of 1.93 A. Crystals of the NKp46 extracellular region belong to the hexagonal space group P6(1) (or P6(5)), with unit-cell parameters a = b = 85.48, c = 59.91 A, gamma = 120 degrees; the asymmetric unit contains one protein chain (197 amino acids).
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio di Biologia Strutturale, Istituto Scientifico Tumori, Largo R. Benzi 10, 16132 Genova, Italy.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ponassi
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cantoni
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Biassoni
authors.forename: Romana
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Conte
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Spallarossa
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Moretta
authors.forename: Lorenzo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Moretta
authors.forename: Martino
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bolognesi
authors.forename: Domenico
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bordo
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D018360:Crystallography, X-Ray; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D005110:Extracellular Space / Q000737:chemistry; D015870:Gene Expression; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D055627:Natural Cytotoxicity Triggering Receptor 1; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D011971:Receptors, Immunologic / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D016415:Sequence Alignment
chemical_list: C112260:NCR1 protein, human; D055627:Natural Cytotoxicity Triggering Receptor 1; D011971:Receptors, Immunologic; D011994:Recombinant Proteins