Sixty years from discovery to solution: Crystal structure of bovine liver catalase form III

Abstract

The crystallization and structural characterization of bovine liver catalase (BLC) has been intensively studied for decades. Forms I and II of BLC have previously been fully characterized using single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Form III has previously been analyzed by electron microscopy, but owing to the thinness of this crystal form an X-ray crystal structure had not been determined. Here, the crystal structure of form III of BLC is presented in space group P2 12 12 1, with unit-cell parameters a = 68.7, b = 173.7, c = 186.3 Å. The asymmetric unit is composed of the biological tetramer, which is packed in a tetrahedron motif with three other BLC tetramers. This higher resolution structure has allowed an assessment of the previously published electron-microscopy studies. © 2011 International Union of Crystallography Printed in Singapore - all rights reserved.