PMID: 10716194 , Related PDB id: 1D5S

Authors:

Dunstone MA, Dai W, Whisstock JC, Rossjohn J, Pike RN, Feil SC, Le Bonniec BF, Parker MW, Bottomley SP

Title:

Cleaved antitrypsin polymers at atomic resolution.

Journal:

Protein Sci. 2000 Feb;9(2):417-20.

Abstract:

Alpha1-antitrypsin deficiency, which can lead to both emphysema and liver disease, is a result of the accumulation of alpha1-antitrypsin polymers within the hepatocyte. A wealth of biochemical and biophysical data suggests that alpha1-antitrypsin polymers form via insertion of residues from the reactive center loop of one molecule into the beta-sheet of another. However, this long-standing hypothesis has not been confirmed by direct structural evidence. Here, we describe the first crystallographic evidence of a beta-strand linked polymer form of alpha1-antitrypsin: the crystal structure of a cleaved alpha1-antitrypsin polymer.