The spindle pole body of the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae has served as a model system for understanding microtubule organizing centers, yet very little is known about the molecular structure of its components. We report here the structure of the C-terminal domain of the core component Cnm67 at 2.3 Å resolution. The structure determination was aided by a novel approach to crystallization of proteins containing coiled-coils that utilizes globular domains to stabilize the coiled-coils. This enhances their solubility in Escherichia coli and improves their crystallization. The Cnm67 C-terminal domain (residues Asn-429-Lys-581) exhibits a previously unseen dimeric, interdigitated, all α-helical fold. In vivo studies demonstrate that this domain alone is able to localize to the spindle pole body. In addition, the structure reveals a large functionally indispensable positively charged surface patch that is implicated in spindle pole body localization. Finally, the C-terminal eight residues are disordered but are critical for protein folding and structural stability.

• PMID: 21454609
• DOI full text
• PMC full text
• PubMed
• PubTator

Reference Type

Journal Article | Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

Authors

Klenchin VA, Frye JJ, Jones MH, Winey M, Rayment I

Primary Lit For

CNM67

Additional Lit For

Review For