Elucidation of the Function of Vaults based on its whole structure.

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24687020
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (A)
• Allocation Type: Partial Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Biophysics
• Research Institution: Osaka University
• Principal Investigator: TANAKA Hideaki 大阪大学, たんぱく質研究所, 准教授 (40346169)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: ボルト / 脂質ラフト / 自然免疫 / X線結晶構造解析

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Vault is the largest cytoplasmic nucleoprotein particle. However we have determined the x-ray structure of rat liver vault at 3.5 angstrom resolution in 2009 (Science 323 384-288, 2009), the electron density map around the waist domain (N terminal domain of MVP) was disordered. Thus we added leucine zipper to the N-terminus of MVP (LZ-MVP), and expressed LZ-MVP in the Sf9 insect cell line using a baculovirus vector. We obtained more stable vault particles (LZ-vaults) in high purity and yield (80mg LZ-vaults/1L culture). The crystals of LZ vaults are diffracted up to 2.8angstrom resolution on beam line BL44XU at SPring-8.

Free Research Field

生体超分子複合体のX線結晶構造解析