Crystal structure of human muscle creatine kinase

Abstract

The crystal structure of human muscle creatine kinase has been determined by the molecular-replacement method and refined at 3.5 Å resolution. The structures of both the monomer and the dimer closely resemble those of the other known structures in the creatine kinase family. Two types of dimers, one with a non-crystallographic twofold symmetry axis and the other with a crystallographic twofold symmetry axis, were found to occur simultaneously in the crystal. These dimers form an infinite `double-helix'-like structure along an unusual long crystallographic 31 axis.