Crystallization and preliminary crystallographic studies of the C-terminal domain of outer membrane protein A from enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli

Outer membrane protein A (OmpA) of enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) plays multiple roles in bacterial physiology and pathogenesis, such as mediation of bacterial conjunction, maintenance of cell shape, induction of adhesion of EHEC to host cells etc. Better understanding of the functions of OmpA will help in the control of EHEC infections. OmpA is composed of two domains: the N-terminal domain and the C-terminal domain. The N-terminal domain is a beta-barrel structure and embeds in the outer membrane of the bacterium. The structure and function of the C-terminal domain of OmpA (OmpAC) remain elusive. In this study, recombinant OmpAC from EHEC was purified and crystallized and a diffraction data set was collected to 2.7 A resolution. The crystals belonged to space group I4(1)32, with unit-cell parameter a = 158.99 A. The Matthews coefficient and solvent content were calculated to be 2.55 A3 Da-1 and 51.77%, respectively, for two molecules in the asymmetric unit.