Crystallization and preliminary X-ray crystallographic analysis of the Bag2 amino-terminal domain from Mus musculus.

Bag2, an atypical member of the Bag family of Hsp70 co-chaperones, acts as both an Hsp70 nucleotide-exchange factor and an inhibitor of the Hsp70-binding E3 ubiquitin ligase CHIP (carboxyl-terminus of Hsp70-interacting protein). The amino-terminal domain of Bag2 (Bag2-NTD), which is required for inhibition of CHIP, has no sequence homologs in the PDB. Native and selenomethionyl (SeMet) forms of Bag2-NTD were crystallized by hanging-drop vapor diffusion. Native Bag2-NTD crystals diffracted to 2.27 Å resolution and belonged to space group P2(1)2(1)2(1), with unit-cell parameters a = 75.5, b = 84.7, c = 114.1 Å. SeMet Bag2-NTD crystals diffracted to 3.10 Å resolution and belonged to space group P2(1)2(1)2(1), with unit-cell parameters a = 37.2, b = 53.3, c = 86.7 Å. Phases for the SeMet Bag2-NTD crystal were solved by single-wavelength anomalous diffraction. Initial phasing and model building using the 3.10 Å resolution SeMet Bag2-NTD data set suggested that Bag2-NTD forms a dimer and adopts a fold distinct from those of any domains annotated in the Pfam or SMART domain databases.