Shubnikov Institute of Crystallography of Federal Scientific Research Centre "Crystallography and Photonics" of Russian Academy of Sciences, Leninskiy Prospect, 59, 119333 Moscow, Russia.
National Research Center "Kurchatov Institute", Akademika Kurchatova pl., 1, 123182 Moscow, Russia.
Int J Mol Sci. 2022 May 10;23(10):5313. doi: 10.3390/ijms23105313.
Dps (DNA-binding protein from starved cells) is well known for the structural protection of bacterial DNA by the formation of highly ordered intracellular assemblies under stress conditions. Moreover, this ferritin-like protein can perform fast oxidation of ferrous ions and subsequently accumulate clusters of ferric ions in its nanocages, thus providing the bacterium with physical and chemical protection. Here, cryo-electron microscopy was used to study the accumulation of iron ions in the nanocage of a Dps protein from . We demonstrate that Fe concentration in the solution and incubation time have an insignificant effect on the volume and the morphology of iron minerals formed in Dps nanocages. However, an increase in the Fe level leads to an increase in the proportion of larger clusters and the clusters themselves are composed of discrete ~1-1.5 nm subunits.
Dps（饥饿细胞中的 DNA 结合蛋白）通过在应激条件下形成高度有序的细胞内组装体，对细菌 DNA 起到结构保护作用，这是众所周知的。此外，这种类似于铁蛋白的蛋白质可以快速氧化二价铁离子，并随后在其纳米笼中积累三价铁离子簇，从而为细菌提供物理和化学保护。在这里，我们使用低温电子显微镜研究了来自. 的 Dps 蛋白纳米笼中离子的积累情况。我们证明，溶液中的 Fe 浓度和孵育时间对 Dps 纳米笼中形成的铁矿物的体积和形态没有显著影响。然而，Fe 水平的增加会导致更大的团簇比例增加，并且这些团簇本身由离散的~1-1.5nm 亚基组成。
