Crystallization and preliminary neutron diffraction studies of ADP-ribose pyrophosphatase-I from Thermus thermophilus HB8

ADP-ribose pyrophosphatase-I from Thermus thermophilus HB8 (TtADPRase-I) prevents the intracellular accumulation of ADP-ribose by hydrolyzing it to AMP and ribose 5'-phosphate. To understand the catalytic mechanism of TtADPRase-I, it is necessary to investigate the role of glutamates and metal ions as well as the coordination of water molecules located at the active site. A macroseeding method was developed in order to obtain a large TtADPRase-I crystal which was suitable for a neutron diffraction study to provide structural information. Neutron and X-ray diffraction experiments were performed at room temperature using the same crystal. The crystal diffracted to 2.1 and 1.5 angstrom resolution in the neutron and X-ray diffraction experiments, respectively. The crystal belonged to the primitive space group P3221, with unit-cell parameters a = b = 50.7, c = 119 angstrom.