Crystallization of inhibited aspartic proteinase from Candida albicans

A major secreted aspartic proteinase from Candida albicans has been crystallized in the presence of inhibitors to prevent autodegradation. With pepstatin a cleaved form of the enzyme was nevertheless found in the crystals whereas with the inhibitor A70450 the enzyme remained intact. The crystals containing pepstatin were not suitable for X-ray data collection while the crystals containing A70450 grew by vapour diffusion as tetragonal bipyramids, space group P4(3)2(1)2 (or P4(1)2(1)2), a = b = 76.2 A, c = 126.1 A, with one molecule in the asymmetric unit and they diffract to beyond 2.2 A.