Sometimes crystals cannot diffract X-rays beyond 3.0Åresolution due to the intrinsic flexibility associated with the protein.Low resolution diffraction data not only pose a challenge to structure determination,but also hamper interpretation of mechanistic details.Crystals of a 25.6 kDa non-Pfam,hypothetical protein,PF2046,diffracted X-rays to 3.38Åresolution.A combination of SeMet derived heavy atom positions with multiple cycles of B-factor sharpening,multi-crystal averaging,restrained refinement followed by manual inspection of electron density and model building resulted in a final model with a R value of 23.5(R_(free)=24.7).The asymmetric unit was large and consisted of six molecules arranged as a homodimer of trimers.Analysis of the structure revealed the presence of a RNA binding domain suggesting a role for PF2046 in the processing of nucleic acids.
Jing SuYang LiNeil ShawWeihong ZhouMin ZhangHao XuBi-Cheng WangZhi-Jie Liu
Rabbit hemorrhagic disease was described in China in 1984 and can cause hemorrhagic necrosis of the liver within two or three days after infection.The etiological agent,rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus(RHDV),belongs to the Lagovirus genus in the Caliciviridae family.Compared to other calicivirus,such as rNV and SMSV,the structure of Lagovirus members is not well characterized.In this report,structures of two types of wild RHDV particles,the intact virion and the core-like particle(CLP),were reconstructed by cryo-electron microscopy at 11Åand 17Å,respectively.This is the first time the 3D structure of wild caliciviruses CLP has been provided,and the 3D structure of intact RHDV virion is the highest resolution structure in Lagovirus.Comparison of the intact virion and CLP structures clearly indicated that CLP was produced from the intact virion with the protrusion dissociated.In contrast with the crystal structures of recombinant Norovirus and San Miguel sea lion virus,the capsomers of RHDV virion exhibited unique structural features and assembly modes.Both P1 and P2 subdomains have interactions inside the AB capsomer,while only P2 subdomains have interaction inside CC capsomer.The pseudo atomic models of RHDV capsomers were constructed by homology modeling and density map fitting,and the rotation of RHDV VP60 P domain with respect to its S domain,compared with SMSV,was observed.Collectively,our cryo-electron microscopic studies of RHDV provide close insight into the structure of Lagovirus,which is important for functional analysis and better vaccine development in the future.
Zhongjun HuXiaojuan TianYujia ZhaiWei XuDong ZhengFei Sun
本文对电子显微三维重构技术(也称电镜三维重构,electron microscopy 3D reconstruction)进行简要介绍,并在此基础上对该技术当前研究的发展和前沿进行综述,包括高分辨率电镜三维重构、仪器设备性能突破、自动化数据收集和处理、高性能计算技术应用、二/三维图像处理技术的发展和创新、基于三维重构图的模型计算等方面,最后对电子显微三维重构技术的未来进行了展望。
