Dehydration leads to a phase transition in monoclinic factor XIII crystals

Monoclinic factor XIII crystals have been transferred to a solution containing increasing amounts of the precipitant PEG 6000. At a concentration of about 36%(w/v) PEG 6000, a phase transition was observed. The space group of the crystals was preserved on the transition, but half of the 2(1) screw axes were lost, which meant that the unit-cell volume and the content of the asymmetric unit were doubled. The structure of factor XIII in the new crystal form was solved by molecular replacement. About 80% of the changes accompanying the transition can be explained by a rigid-body rotation of half of the factor XIII dimers in the lattice by about 5 degrees. The remaining changes are mostly small interdomain movements of the four domains which constitute one factor XIII monomer.