title: Structure of the SARS coronavirus main proteinase as an active C2 crystallographic dimer.
abstract: The 34 kDa main proteinase (Mpro) from the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) plays an important role in the virus life cycle through the specific processing of viral polyproteins. As such, SARS-CoV Mpro is a key target for the identification of specific inhibitors directed against the SARS virus. With a view to facilitating the development of such compounds, crystals were obtained of the enzyme at pH 6.5 in the orthorhombic space group P2(1)2(1)2 that diffract to a resolution of 1.9 A. These crystals contain one monomer per asymmetric unit and the biologically active dimer is generated via the crystallographic twofold axis. The conformation of the catalytic site indicates that the enzyme is active in the crystalline form and thus suitable for structure-based inhibition studies.
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 637551, Singapore.
authors.forename: Ting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Amy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ooi
authors.forename: Hooi Chen
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Rupert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wilmouth
authors.forename: Ding Xiang
authors.initials: DX
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Julien
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lescar
mesh_terms: D001665:Binding Sites; D002384:Catalysis; D020134:Catalytic Domain; D000086782:Coronavirus 3C Proteases; D018360:Crystallography, X-Ray; D003546:Cysteine Endopeptidases / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D053938:DNA Fragmentation; D019281:Dimerization; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000737:chemistry; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D008958:Models, Molecular; D015233:Models, Statistical; D011487:Protein Conformation; D017433:Protein Structure, Secondary; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D045473:Severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus / Q000201:enzymology*; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D014764:Viral Proteins; D003546:Cysteine Endopeptidases; D000086782:Coronavirus 3C Proteases