Crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction analysis of importin-α complexed with NLS peptidomimetics

Importin-α is the nuclear import receptor that recognizes cargo proteins with nuclear localization sequences (NLSs). The study of NLS peptidomimetics can provide a better understanding of the requirements for the molecular recognition of cargo proteins by importin-α, and potentially engender a large number of applications in medicine. Importin-α was crystallized with a set of six NLS peptidomimetics, and X-ray diffraction data were collected in the range 2.1-2.5 Å resolution. Preliminary electron density calculations show that the ligands are present in the crystals.