Fig. 1

Structural insight into the ApoE crystal packing topologies. (A) Comparison of T-shaped (grey) and V-shaped (yellow) crystal packing patterns of all inspected ApoE structures with position 112 visualized as a blue sphere. ApoE structures with PDB identification codes marked in green have a V-shaped packing but residue organization at the self-association interface as in the T-shaped packing. (B) Superposition of ApoE3 (grey) and ApoE4 (yellow) NTD dimeric units with a marked W34 (pink sphere) and R112 (blue sphere). (C) “Domino-like” effect of C112R substitution leading from small local changes up to a change in the tilt angle between chain A and B. (D) Comparison of the self-association interface of ApoE3 (the upper panel) and ApoE4 (the lower panel). The critical interaction residues of chain A (W34, R38, R145, and D153) and chain B (E45, Q46, and E49) are in black and red, respectively.