Crystallization and preliminary crystallographic analysis of fragaceatoxin C, a pore-forming toxin from the sea anemone Actinia fragacea

MECHALY AE; BELLOMIO A; MORANTE K; GONZÁLEZ-MAÑAS JM; GUÉRIN DM

Acta crystallographica. Section F, Structural biology and crystallization communications

International Union of Crystallography

Lugar: Chester; Año: 2009 vol. 65 p. 357 - 360

1744-3091

Sea anemones produce water-soluble toxins that have the ability to interact with cell membranes and form pores within them. The mechanism of pore formation is based on an initial binding step followed by oligomerization and membrane insertion. Although the final structure of the pore remains unclear, biochemical studies indicate that it consists of a tetramer with a functional radius of approximately 1.1 nm. Since four monomers seem to be insufficient to build a pore of this size, the currently accepted model suggests that lipids might also participate in its structure. In this work, the crystallization and preliminary crystallographic analysis of two crystal forms of fragaceatoxin C (FraC), a newly characterized actinoporin from Actinia fragacea, are described. The crystals diffracted up to 1.8 Å resolution and the preliminary molecular-replacement solution supports an oligomeric structure of about 120 Å in diameter.