The crystal structure of glutamate dehydrogenase from Clostridium symbiosum at 0.6 nm resolution.

The structure of glutamate dehydrogenase from Clostridium symbiosum has been solved by single-crystal X-ray-diffraction studies at 0.6 nm resolution by using a combination of isomorphous replacement and molecular averaging. The electron-density map reveals that this glutamate dehydrogenase is a hexameric oligomer, arranged in 32 symmetry, of cylindrical appearance and dimensions, of length 10.8 nm and radius 4.4 nm. From an analysis of this map each subunit appears to contain some 55% alpha-helix and is organized into two distinct globular domains separated by a deep cleft. The subunits associate using the domain closest to the 32-symmetry point, making intimate contacts around the threefold and twofold interfaces. The second domain shows structural homology to the NAD-binding domain of other dehydrogenases, and difference Fourier analysis has shown that the NAD is bound in both a structurally equivalent position and a similar conformation to that observed for those related enzymes.