Purification, crystallization and preliminary X-ray analysis of toxic shock syndrome toxin-1 from Staphylococcus aureus.

High yields of toxic shock syndrome toxin-1, from Staphylococcus aureus, have been purified (> 99%) using a novel, simple, two-step procedure involving dye ligand chromatography. Crystals suitable for X-ray diffraction work were obtained by vapour diffusion using ammonium sulphate and polyethylene glycol as precipitants. They belong to the orthorhombic space group C222(1), with unit cell dimensions a = 108.6 A, b = 177.6 A and c = 97.5 A, with three molecules per asymmetric unit. The crystals diffract to at least 2.5 A resolution and are suitable for three-dimensional X-ray structural analysis.