Crystallization of the Zalpha domain of the human editing enzyme ADAR1 complexed with a DNA-RNA chimeric oligonucleotide in the left-handed Z-conformation.

The Zalpha domain of human double-stranded RNA adenosine deaminase (ADAR1) has been crystallized with a hexanucleotide containing alternating deoxyribose and ribose furanose sugars. Solution circular dichroism experiments show that this double-stranded chimera (dCrG)(3) initially adopts the right-handed A-conformation. However, addition of stoichiometric amounts of Zalpha causes a rapid transition to the Z-conformation. Raman spectroscopy of crystals of the Zalpha-(dCrG)(3) complex confirm that the chimeric oligonucleotide is stabilized in the Z-conformation. A complete data set has been obtained at 2.5 A resolution. The Zalpha-(dCrG)(3) crystals belong to the tetragonal I422 space group, with unit-cell parameters a = b = 104.2, c = 117.6 A. Work is under way to solve the structure by molecular replacement.