title: Purification, crystallization and preliminary X-ray analysis of adenylosuccinate synthetase from the fungal pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans.
abstract: With increasingly large immunocompromised populations around the world, opportunistic fungal pathogens such as Cryptococcus neoformans are a growing cause of morbidity and mortality. To combat the paucity of antifungal compounds, new drug targets must be investigated. Adenylosuccinate synthetase is a crucial enzyme in the ATP de novo biosynthetic pathway, catalyzing the formation of adenylosuccinate from inosine monophosphate and aspartate. Although the enzyme is ubiquitous and well characterized in other kingdoms, no crystallographic studies on the fungal protein have been performed. Presented here are the expression, purification, crystallization and initial crystallographic analyses of cryptococcal adenylosuccinate synthetase. The crystals had the symmetry of space group P2(1)2(1)2(1) and diffracted to 2.2 Å resolution.
authors.affiliation: Australian Infectious Diseases Research Centre, School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia.
authors.forename: Ross D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Blundell
authors.forename: Simon J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.forename: Carl A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Morrow
authors.forename: Daniel J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Ericsson
authors.forename: Bostjan
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kobe
authors.forename: James A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Fraser
mesh_terms: D000265:Adenylosuccinate Synthase / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D003455:Cryptococcus neoformans / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics; D018360:Crystallography, X-Ray; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D015870:Gene Expression; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification
chemical_list: D005656:Fungal Proteins; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D000265:Adenylosuccinate Synthase
keywords: Cryptococcus neoformans; adenylosuccinate synthetase