Behind Molecule of the Month

02/05 

ST3Gal1 (light green) and ST6Gal1 (dark green) are attached to the Golgi membrane (gray) through a flexible linker, which is drawn schematically here. PDBe Archive Project Leader Deborah Harrus was the lead author on ST6Gal1 (PDB ID 6qvt).

The RCSB PDB Molecule of the Month series presents short accounts on selected molecules from the Protein Data Bank archive.

February's feature explores avian influenza by looking at H5 Hemagglutinin, the sugar-binding protein on the surface of the virus.

The article includes a structure from a key participant in the wwPDB--PDBe Archive Project Leader Deborah Harrus. Deborah and the wwPDB team regularly collaborate on issues related to deposition, validation, and biocuration of PDB data.

PDB-101 spoke with Deborah to learn more about her structure:

Why were you interested in studying this structure?

I worked on ST6Gal1 which is a sialyltransferase transferring sialic acids, the targets of hemagglutinins.

At the time I solved the structure of ST6Gal1 (6QVS and 6QVT) there were only 2 other structures available of the human ST6Gal1 (4JS1 and 4JS2), with a lower resolution, and showing the end of the reaction (with the product). I was able to get the structure at higher resolution and with the substrate (CMP-Sialic acid).

To this date there are still no new structure of this protein, because it is quite difficult to handle in vitro.

This protein has a high number of disulfide bonds, which is an interesting challenge when we expressed the protein in E. coli. We had to use the CyDisCo system (Gąciarz et al., 2017) enabling disulfide bond formation in the cytoplasm of E. coli.

Any thoughts on seeing the structure in MOTM?

Very excited and honored! Thank you!

How does being a data depositor influence your role as wwPDB biocurator?

I deposited this structure a year before joining the PDB. As a user, I have always payed attention to the deposition process and validation metrics.

So it's actually the reverse statement... being a past depositor helps me being in the shoes of users, understand their queries, and helps me being a wwPDB biocurator.

Molecule of the Month is created by Janet Iwasa (RCSB PDB, University of Utah). David S. Goodsell was the creator from 2000-2024. Read Molecule of the Month: Celebrating 25 Years of Storytelling and Announcing New Beginnings for details.