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Crystal Structure Analysis of the 20S Proteasome Grown in Space: Comparison between Space and Ground Crystals

Yukio Morimoto, Masayuki Kamo, Naoki Furubayashi, Yuuki Higashino, Koji Inaka

Abstract

Microgravity utilization in space is a powerful technique for high-quality protein crystallization. Drug design requires information regarding three-dimensional atomic coordinates from a precious protein structure at atomic resolution. Crystals obtained in space have greater availability for the analysis of drug/protein interactions compared to crystals on the ground. In this study, we assessed the reliabilities of crystal characterization based on the mosaicities of the space and ground crystals and determined a complex whole structure of the 20S proteasome with an anticancer drug.

About Varda

Varda is designing and building the infrastructure for pharmaceutical companies to synthesize novel molecules in microgravity.