Crystallization and X-ray diffraction analysis of human CLEC-2

The human C-type lectin-like protein CLEC-2 has recently been shown to be expressed on the surface of platelets and to function as a receptor for the snake-venom protein rhodocytin. The C-type lectin-like domain (CTLD) of CLEC-2 was expressed in Escherichia coli, refolded and purified. Crystals of this recombinant CLEC-2 were grown by sitting-drop vapour diffusion using polyethylene glycol (PEG) 6000 as a precipitant. After optimization, crystals were grown which diffracted to 2.0 Å using in-house radiation (λ = 1.5418 Å). These crystals belonged to the orthorhombic space group P2 12121, with unit-cell parameters a = 35.407, b = 55.143, c = 56.078 Å. The presence of one molecule per asymmetric unit is consistent with a crystal volume per unit weight (VM) of 1.82 Å3 Da-1 and a solvent content of 32.6%. These results suggest that crystals producing diffraction of this quality will be suitable for the structural determination of human CLEC-2. © 2005 International Union of Crystallography All rights reserved.