Crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction analysis of CfaE, the adhesive subunit of the CFA/I fimbriae from human enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli

Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) represents a formidable food and waterborne diarrheal disease threat of global importance. The first step in ETEC pathogenesis is bacterial attachment to small-intestine epithelial cells via adhesive fimbriae, many of which are genetically related to the prototype colonization factor antigen I (CFA/I). The minor fimbrial subunit CfaE is required for initiation of CFA/I fimbrial assembly and mediates bacterial attachment to host cell-surface receptors. A donor-strand complemented variant of CfaE (dscCfaE) was expressed with a hexahistidine tag, purified to homogeneity and crystallized using the hanging-drop vapor-diffusion method. X-ray diffraction data sets were collected to 2.4 Å resolution for both native and derivatized crystals and showed the symmetry of space group P6₂22, with unit-cell parameters a = b = 142.9, c = 231.9 Å. Initial phases were derived from the SIRAS approach and electron density showed two molecules in the crystallographic asymmetric unit. Sequence assignments were aided by anomalous signals from the selenium of an SeMet-derivatized crystal and from S atoms of a native crystal.