Expression, purification, crystallization and preliminary crystallographic study of isolated modules of the mouse coactivator-associated arginine methyltransferase 1
Abstract
Coactivator-associated arginine methyltransferase 1 (CARM1) plays a crucial role in gene expression as a coactivator of several nuclear hormone receptors and also of non-nuclear receptor systems. Its recruitment by the transcriptional machinery induces protein methylation, leading to chromatin remodelling and gene activation. CARM128–507 and two structural states of CARM1140–480 were expressed, purified and crystallized. Crystals of CARM128–507 belong to space group P6222, with unit-cell parameters a = b = 136.0, c = 125.3 Å; they diffract to beyond 2.5 Å resolution using synchrotron radiation and contain one monomer in the asymmetric unit. The structure of CARM128–507 was solved by multiple isomorphous replacement and anomalous scattering methods. Crystals of apo CARM1140–480 belong to space group I222, with unit-cell parameters a = 74.6, b = 99.0, c = 207.4 Å; they diffract to beyond 2.7 Å resolution and contain two monomers in the asymmetric unit. Crystals of CARM1140–480 in complex with S-adenosyl-l-homocysteine belong to space P21212, with unit-cell parameters a = 74.6, b = 98.65, c = 206.08 Å; they diffract to beyond 2.6 Å resolution and contain four monomers in the asymmetric unit. The structures of apo and holo CARM1140–480 were solved by molecular-replacement techniques from the structure of CARM128–507.