Crystallization and preliminary structural analyses of glutamate dehydrogenase from Peptoniphilus asaccharolyticus

Selenomethionine-derivatized glutamate dehydrogenase from P. asaccharolyticus has been crystallized. Diffraction data were collected to 3.5 Å resolution from crystals belonging to the rhombohedral space group H32 and structure determination is in progress. Glutamate dehydrogenase (EC 1.4.1.2–4) from Peptoniphilus asaccharolyticus has been expressed as a selenomethionine-derivatized recombinant protein and diffraction-quality crystals have been grown that are suitable for structure determination. Preliminary structural analyses indicate that the protein assembles as a homohexameric enzyme complex in solution, similar to other bacterial and mammalian enzymes to which its sequence identity varies between 25 and 40%. The structure will provide insight into its preference for the cofactor NADH (over NADPH) by comparisons with the known structures of mammalian and bacterial enzymes