The HsdR subunit of the type I restriction-modification system EcoR124I is responsible for the translocation as well as the restriction activity of the whole complex consisting of the HsdR, HsdM and HsdS subunits, and while crystal structures are available for the wild type and several mutants, the C-terminal domain comprising approximately 150 residues was not resolved in any of these structures. Here, three fusion constructs with the GFP variant pHluorin developed to overexpress, purify and crystallize the C-terminal domain of HsdR are reported. The shortest of the three encompassed HsdR residues 887-1038 and yielded crystals that belonged to the orthorhombic space group C2221, with unit-cell parameters a = 83.42, b = 176.58, c = 126.03 Å, α = β = γ = 90.00° and two molecules in the asymmetric unit (VM = 2.55 Å(3) Da(-1), solvent content 50.47%). X-ray diffraction data were collected to a resolution of 2.45 Å.

Haloalkane dehalogenases (EC 3.8.1.5) are microbial enzymes that catalyse the hydrolytic conversion of halogenated compounds, resulting in a halide ion, a proton and an alcohol. These enzymes are used in industrial biocatalysis, bioremediation and biosensing of environmental pollutants or for molecular tagging in cell biology. The novel haloalkane dehalogenase DpaA described here was isolated from the psychrophilic and halophilic bacterium Paraglaciecola agarilytica NO2, which was found in marine sediment collected from the East Sea near Korea. Gel-filtration experiments and size-exclusion chromatography provided information about the dimeric composition of the enzyme in solution. The DpaA enzyme was crystallized using the sitting-drop vapour-diffusion method, yielding rod-like crystals that diffracted X-rays to 2.0 Å resolution. Diffraction data analysis revealed a case of merohedral twinning, and subsequent structure modelling and refinement resulted in a tetrameric model of DpaA, highlighting an uncommon multimeric nature for a protein belonging to haloalkane dehalogenase subfamily I.

Haloalkane dehalogenases are a very important class of microbial enzymes for environmental detoxification of halogenated pollutants, for biocatalysis, biosensing and molecular tagging. The double mutant (Ile44Leu + Gln102His) of the haloalkane dehalogenase DbeA from Bradyrhizobium elkanii USDA94 (DbeA∆Cl) was constructed to study the role of the second halide-binding site previously discovered in the wild-type structure. The variant is less active, less stable in the presence of chloride ions and exhibits significantly altered substrate specificity when compared with the DbeAwt. DbeA∆Cl was crystallized using the sitting-drop vapour-diffusion procedure with further optimization by the random microseeding technique. The crystal structure of the DbeA∆Cl has been determined and refined to the 1.4 Å resolution. The DbeA∆Cl crystals belong to monoclinic space group C121. The DbeA∆Cl molecular structure was characterized and compared with five known haloalkane dehalogenases selected from the Protein Data Bank.Crystals 2019, 9, 375 2 of 12 and the cap domain is essential for substrate specificity and recognition [6]. A deep cleft is situated between these two domains, allowing the solvent to access the buried active site. The active site is composed of two halide-anion stabilizing residues and the catalytic triad consisting of a nucleophile, a base and an acid [7]. HLDs can be divided into three subfamilies, HLD-I, HLD-II and HLD-III, according to the composition of the catalytic residues and the anatomy of the cap domain [4].A novel HLD DbeA from B. elkanii USDA94, a member of HLD-II subfamily [4], was structurally and biochemically characterized [7]. The structure of DbeA wild type was determined to 2.2 Å resolution and displays a typical topology of the α/β-hydrolases (EC 3.8.1.5). The unique feature of the DbeA structure is the presence of two halide-binding sites, both fully occupied by chloride anions [7]. The first halide-binding site is located in the protein active site and is involved in substrate binding and stabilization of halogen ion produced during dehalogenation reaction. DbeA active site consists of five catalytic residues: two halide stabilizing residues (Trp104 and Asn38) and three amino acids essential for the catalytic activity of the enzyme [2,4]: the nucleophile Asp103, the catalytic base His271, and the catalytic acid Glu127. The second halide-binding site in DbeA is unique and has never been observed within HLD structures deposited in the PDB [8]. The second halide-binding site, which is buried in the protein core domain and located approximately 10 Å far from the first halide-binding site, is formed by five amino-acid residues: Ile44, Gln274, Gln102, Gly37 and Thr40 [7]. Superposition of the DbeA structure with other related HLD-II members revealed the presence of two unique amino acids in the second halide-binding site: Gln102 instead of a typical His and Ile44 as a substitution of an ordinary Leu, thereby sufficiently increasing the cavity volume to accommodate the second halide ion. The vari...

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Iripin-4, one of the many salivary serpins from Ixodes ricinus ticks with an as-yet unexplained function, crystallized in two different structural conformations, namely the native partially relaxed state and the cleaved serpin. The native structure was solved at a resolution of 2.3 Å and the structure of the cleaved conformation was solved at 2.0 Å resolution. Furthermore, structural changes were observed when the reactive-centre loop transitioned from the native conformation to the cleaved conformation. In addition to this finding, it was confirmed that Glu341 represents a primary substrate-recognition site for the inhibitory mechanism. The presence of glutamate instead of the typical arginine in the P1 recognition site of all structurally characterized I. ricinus serpins (PDB entries 7b2t, 7pmu and 7ahp), except for the tyrosine in the P1 site of Iripin-2 (formerly IRS-2; PDB entry 3nda), would explain the absence of inhibition of the tested proteases that cleave their substrate after arginine. Further research on Iripin-4 should focus on functional analysis of this interesting serpin.