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Updated: Aug 8, 2026

Expression, Detergent Solubilization, and Purification of a Membrane Transporter, the MexB Multidrug Resistance Protein
Published on: December 3, 2010
Purification, crystallization and preliminary X-ray analysis of mexicain
M C Oliver-Salvador1, L A González-Ramírez, J A Gavira
1Unidad Profesional Interdisciplinaria de Biotecnología, IPN, México DF, México.
Abstract:
Mexicain is a 23.7 kDa papain-like cysteine protease from the tropical plant Jacaratia mexicana. Extracted as a mix of proteases from the latex of the fruit, mexicain is isolated after cation-exchange chromatography as the most abundant product. The purified product inhibited with E-64 was crystallized by sitting-drop vapour diffusion in the presence of ethanolamine. Cryoprotected crystals diffracted X-rays from a home source to 1.98 A and belong to the monoclinic space group P2(1), with unit-cell parameters a = 57.36, b = 90.45, c = 80.39 A, beta = 92.64 degrees . The asymmetric unit contains four molecules of mexicain, with a corresponding crystal volume per protein weight (V(M)) of 2.24 A(3) Da(-1) and a solvent content of 45% by volume. A molecular-replacement model has been determined and refinement is in progress.
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