Biochemistry Commons^™

Determining The Full-Length Structure Of Collagenase H Using Small-Angle X-Ray Scattering, Josie Carson

Chemistry & Biochemistry Undergraduate Honors Theses

Known to cause gas gangrene, Hathewaya histolytica secretes two sister collagenases, collagenase G (Col G) and collagenase H (Col H), to degrade the triple helical structure of collagen to further infection in a host. Individual domains of Col H have been crystalized in previous studies, but methods in x-ray crystallization of full-length Col H have been unsuccessful. Using Small Angle X-Ray Scattering (SAXS) data, atomistic modeling was used to generate multiple conformations of Col H while accounting for flexibility between domains. Full-length Col H was found to adopt a two-state conformational model exhibiting a majority compact and a minority elongated …