Crystal Structure Analysis of the 20S Proteasome Grown in Space: Comparison between Space and Ground Crystals

Abstract

Microgravity utilization in space is a powerful technique for high-quality protein crystallization. Drug design requires information regarding three-dimensional atomic coordinates from a precious protein structure at atomic resolution. Crystals obtained in space have greater availability for the analysis of drug/protein interactions compared to crystals on the ground. In this study, we assessed the reliabilities of crystal characterization based on the mosaicities of the space and ground crystals and determined a complex whole structure of the 20S proteasome with an anticancer drug.