Abstract
The spindle pole body of the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae has served as a model system for understanding microtubule organizing centers, yet very little is known about the molecular structure of its components. We report here the structure of the C-terminal domain of the core component Cnm67 at 2.3 Å resolution. The structure determination was aided by a novel approach to crystallization of proteins containing coiled-coils that utilizes globular domains to stabilize the coiled-coils. This enhances their solubility in Escherichia coli and improves their crystallization. The Cnm67 C-terminal domain (residues Asn-429 - Lys-581) exhibits a previously unseen dimeric, interdigitated, all α-helical fold. In vivo studies demonstrate that this domain alone is able to localize to the spindle pole body. In addition, the structure reveals a large functionally indispensable positively charged surface patch that is implicated in spindle pole body localization. Finally, the C-terminal eight residues are disordered but are critical for protein folding and structural stability.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 18240-18250 |
Number of pages | 11 |
Journal | Journal of Biological Chemistry |
Volume | 286 |
Issue number | 20 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - May 20 2011 |
Externally published | Yes |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Biochemistry
- Molecular Biology
- Cell Biology