Crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction study of the heat-labile enterotoxin B subunit produced by...

Heat-labile enterotoxin LT produced by enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli is composed of A and B subunits. The A subunit is enzymatically active; whereas, through the action of the B subunit, the toxin binds to the receptor, a GM1 ganglioside present on the cell surface. Crystals of the LT-B subunit were formed at room temperature by vapor diffusion with polyethylene glycol in the presence of the non-ionic detergent beta-octylglucoside. The crystals were characterized by X-radiation as orthorhombic, space group P2(1)2(1)2(1), with unit cell dimensions of a = 224.1 A, b = 65.3 A, c = 118.4 A. They diffract X-rays to a resolution of at least 2.5 A and are stable to X-rays.