Crystallization and preliminary crystallographic analysis of antistasin, a leech-derived inhibitor of blood coagulation factor Xa

The salivary gland of the Mexican leech Haementeria officinalis contains a 15 kDa protein which is a potent and selective inhibitor of factor Xa. It inhibits not only blood coagulation, but also metastasis. A gene, coding for a sequence similar to published antistasin sequences, has been synthesized and expressed in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells. The recombinant protein was purified and crystallized at pH 6.0, using 31% ammonium sulfate as a precipitant. The crystals diffract at least to 2.8 A. The spacegroup is I422 with a = b = 77.7 A and c = 88.4 A. The crystals contain 42% solvent and one protein molecule in the asymmetric unit. A search for heavy atom derivatives is in progress.

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Recombinant antistasin, a 15 kDa factor Xa inhibitor from the Mexican leech Haementeria officinalis, was expressed in CHO cells and crystallized; the crystals diffract to at least 2.8 A in spacegroup I422 with one molecule per asymmetric unit.

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