title: The amino-terminal structure of human fragile X mental retardation protein obtained using precipitant-immobilized imprinted polymers.
abstract: Flexibility is an intrinsic property of proteins and essential for their biological functions. However, because of structural flexibility, obtaining high-quality crystals of proteins with heterogeneous conformations remain challenging. Here, we show a novel approach to immobilize traditional precipitants onto molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) to facilitate protein crystallization, especially for flexible proteins. By applying this method, high-quality crystals of the flexible N-terminus of human fragile X mental retardation protein are obtained, whose absence causes the most common inherited mental retardation. A novel KH domain and an intermolecular disulfide bond are discovered, and several types of dimers are found in solution, thus providing insights into the function of this protein. Furthermore, the precipitant-immobilized MIPs (piMIPs) successfully facilitate flexible protein crystal formation for five model proteins with increased diffraction resolution. This highlights the potential of piMIPs for the crystallization of flexible proteins.
authors: Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China.
authors: Yufeng
authors: Y
authors: Hu
authors: State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China.
authors: Zhenhang
authors: Z
authors: Chen
authors: State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China.
authors: Yanjun
authors: Y
authors: Fu
authors: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, National Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Biology, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100005, China.
authors: Qingzhong
authors: Q
authors: He
authors: State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China.
authors: Lun
authors: L
authors: Jiang
authors: State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China.
authors: Jiangge
authors: J
authors: Zheng
authors: State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China.
authors: Yina
authors: Y
authors: Gao
authors: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, National Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Biology, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100005, China.
authors: Pinchao
authors: P
authors: Mei
authors: State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China.
authors: Zhongzhou
authors: Z
authors: Chen
authors: Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China.
authors: Xueqin
authors: X
authors: Ren
mesh_terms: D003460:Crystallization; D051860:Fragile X Messenger Ribonucleoprotein 1 / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D011108:Polymers; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary
chemical_list: D051860:Fragile X Messenger Ribonucleoprotein 1; D011108:Polymers; C497683:FMR1 protein, human