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Updated: Jun 11, 2026

Microcrystallography of Protein Crystals and In Cellulo Diffraction
Published on: July 21, 2017
Crystallization and preliminary X-ray analysis of cecropin B from Bombyx mori
Zhongyuan Liu1, Qiangjun Zhou, Xinfang Mao
1School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, Hai'dian District, Beijing 100084, People's Republic of China.
Abstract:
Cecropin B is a 37-residue cationic antimicrobial peptide derived from the haemolymph of Bombyx mori. The precise mechanism by which cecropins exert their antimicrobial and cytolytic activities is not well understood. Crystals of cecropin B were obtained by the hanging-drop vapour-diffusion method using polyethylene glycol as a precipitant at 289 K. The crystal diffracted to 1.43 A resolution using X-ray radiation and belonged to the orthorhombic space group P1, with unit-cell parameters a = 15.08, b = 22.75, c = 30.20 A, alpha = 96.9, beta = 103.1, gamma = 96.5 degrees. The asymmetric unit contained only one molecule of cecropin B, with a calculated Matthews coefficient of 2.48 A(3) Da(-1) and a solvent content of 50.4%.

