Crystallization and preliminary X-ray studies of native and mutant intimin from enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli.

Enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) O157:H7 is a primarily food-borne bacterial pathogen that is capable of causing life-threatening human infections and poses a serious challenge to public health worldwide. The bacterial outer-membrane protein intimin plays a key role in the initiation process of EHEC infection. In this study, intimin from EHEC O157:H7 (Int188) and its N916Y mutant (IntN916Y) were purified and crystals of both were obtained using the hanging-drop vapour-diffusion method at 291 K. Data were collected from Int188 and IntN916Y crystals to 2.8 and 2.6 Å resolution, respectively. The crystal of Int188 belonged to the orthorhombic space group C2, with unit-cell parameters a=235.16, b=44.81, c=129.12 Å, α=γ=90, β=97.53°. The crystal of IntN916Y belonged to space group P2(1)2(1)2(1), with unit-cell parameters a=43.78, b=92.49, c=100.05 Å, α=β=γ=90°.