Crystallization and preliminary X-ray crystallographic analysis of Aart, a designed six-finger zinc-finger peptide, bound to DNA.

Crystals of a designed six-finger zinc-finger protein, Aart, bound to a 22-base-pair duplex DNA containing a consensus binding site have been obtained. Crystals grew by hanging-drop vapor diffusion from solutions containing polyethylene glycol 4000 as the precipitating agent. The irregularly shaped crystals belong to space group P1, with unit-cell parameters a = 41.95, b = 71.76, c = 74.73 A, alpha = 100.87, beta = 96.22, gamma = 106.33 degrees . There are most likely to be two protein-DNA complexes in the asymmetric unit. A complete native data set has been collected from a high-energy synchrotron source to a resolution of 2.95 A at 100 K, with an Rmerge of 9.3%.