Ethan A. Merritt

Raster3D: photorealistic molecular graphics.

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses Raster3D, which is a suite of programs for molecular graphics. Crystallographers were among the first and most avid consumers of graphics workstations. Rapid advances in computer hardware, and particularly in the power of specialized computer graphics boards, have led to successive generations of personal workstations with ever more impressive capabilities for interactive molecular graphics. For many years, it was standard practice in crystallography laboratories to prepare figures by photographing directly from the workstation screen. No matter how beautiful the image on the screen, however, this approach suffers from several intrinsic limitations. Among these is the inherent limitation imposed by the effective resolution of the screen. Use of the graphics hardware in a workstation to generate images for later presentation can also impose other limitations. Designers of workstation hardware must compromise the quality of rendered images to achieve rendering speeds high enough for useful interactive manipulation of three-dimensional objects.

Optimal description of a protein structure in terms of multiple groups undergoing TLS motion.

A single protein crystal structure contains information about dynamic properties of the protein as well as providing a static view of one three-dimensional conformation. This additional information is to be found in the distribution of observed electron density about the mean position of each atom. It is general practice to account for this by refining a separate atomic displacement parameter (ADP) for each atomic center. However, these same displacements are often described well by simpler models based on TLS (translation/libration/screw) rigid-body motion of large groups of atoms, for example interdomain hinge motion. A procedure, TLSMD, has been developed that analyzes the distribution of ADPs in a previously refined protein crystal structure in order to generate optimal multi-group TLS descriptions of the constituent protein chains. TLSMD is applicable to crystal structures at any resolution. The models generated by TLSMD analysis can significantly improve the standard crystallographic residuals R and R(free) and can reveal intrinsic dynamic properties of the protein.

TLSMD web server for the generation of multi-group TLS models

The TLSMD web server extracts information about dynamic properties of a protein based on information derived from a single-crystal structure. It does so by analyzing the spatial distribution of individual atomic thermal parameters present in an input structural model. The server partitions the protein structure into multiple, contiguous chain segments, each segment corresponding to one group in a multi-group description of the proteins overall dynamic motion. For each polypeptide chain of the input protein, the analysis generates the optimal partition into two segments, three segments, … up to 20 segments. Each such partition is optimal in the sense that it is the best approximation of the overall spatial distribution of input thermal parameters in terms of N chain segments, each acting as a rigid group undergoing TLS (translation/libration/screw) motion. This multi-group TLS model may be used as a starting point for further crystallographic refinement, or as the basis for analyzing inter-domain and other large-scale motions implied by the crystal structure.

Toxoplasma gondii calcium-dependent protein kinase 1 is a target for selective kinase inhibitors.

New drugs are needed to treat toxoplasmosis. Toxoplasma gondii calcium-dependent protein kinases (TgCDPKs) are attractive targets because they are absent in mammals. We show that TgCDPK1 is inhibited by low nanomolar levels of bumped kinase inhibitors (BKIs), compounds inactive against mammalian kinases. Cocrystal structures of TgCDPK1 with BKIs confirm that the structural basis for selectivity is due to the unique glycine gatekeeper residue in the ATP-binding site. We show that BKIs interfere with an early step in T. gondii infection of human cells in culture. Furthermore, we show that TgCDPK1 is the in vivo target of BKIs because T. gondii expressing a glycine to methionine gatekeeper mutant enzyme show significantly decreased sensitivity to BKIs. Thus, design of selective TgCDPK1 inhibitors with low host toxicity may be achievable.

Galactose-binding site in Escherichia coli heat-labile enterotoxin (LT) and cholera toxin (CT).

The galactose‐binding site in cholera toxin and the closely related heat‐labile enterotoxin (LT) from Escherichia coli is an attractive target for the rational design of potential anti‐cholera drugs, in this paper we analyse the molecular structure of this binding site as seen in several crystal structures, including that of an LT: galactose complex which we report here at 2.2 Å resolution. The binding surface on the free toxin contains several tightly associated water molecules and a relatively flexible loop consisting of residues 51–60 of the B subunit. During receptor binding this loop becomes tightly ordered by forming hydrogen bonds jointly to the GM1 pentasaccharide and to a set of water molecules which stabilize the toxin: receptor complex.

AB5 toxins: structures and inhibitor design

High-resolution crystal structures of AB(5) toxins in their native form or in complex with a variety of ligands have led to the structure-based design and discovery of inhibitors targeting different areas of the toxins. The most significant progress is the development of highly potent multivalent ligands that block binding of the toxins to their receptors.

Expanding the model: anisotropic displacement parameters in protein structure refinement

Recent technological improvements in crystallographic data collection have led to a surge in the number of protein structures being determined at atomic or near-atomic resolution. At this resolution, structural models can be expanded to include anisotropic displacement parameters (ADPs) for individual atoms. New protocols and new tools are needed to refine, analyze and validate such models optimally. One such tool, PARVATI, has been used to examine all protein structures (peptide chains >50 residues) for which expanded models including ADPs are available from the Protein Data Bank. The distribution of anisotropy within each of these refined models is broadly similar across the entire set of structures, with a mean anisotropy A in the range 0.4-0.5. This is a significant departure from a purely isotropic model and explains why the inclusion of ADPs yields a substantial improvement in the crystallographic residuals R and Rfree. The observed distribution of anisotropy may prove useful in the validation of very high resolution structures. A more complete understanding of this distribution may also allow the development of improved protein structural models, even at lower resolution.

Cooperative hydrogen bond interactions in the streptavidin–biotin system

The thermodynamic and structural cooperativity between the Ser45– and D128–biotin hydrogen bonds was measured by calorimetric and X‐ray crystallographic studies of the S45A/D128A double mutant of streptavidin. The double mutant exhibits a binding affinity ∼2 × 107 times lower than that of wild‐type streptavidin at 25°C. The corresponding reduction in binding free energy (ΔΔG) of 10.1 kcal/mol was nearly completely due to binding enthalpy losses at this temperature. The loss of binding affinity is 11‐fold greater than that predicted by a linear combination of the single‐mutant energetic perturbations (8.7 kcal/mol), indicating that these two mutations interact cooperatively. Crystallographic characterization of the double mutant and comparison with the two single mutant structures suggest that structural rearrangements at the S45 position, when the D128 carboxylate is removed, mask the true energetic contribution of the D128–biotin interaction. Taken together, the thermodynamic and structural analyses support the conclusion that the wild‐type hydrogen bond between D128–OD and biotin–N2 is thermodynamically stronger than that between S45–OG and biotin–N1.

A molecular viewer for the analysis of TLS rigid-body motion in macromolecules

TLS (translation/libration/screw) models describe rigid-body vibrational motions of arbitrary objects. A single-group TLS model can be used to approximate the vibration of an entire protein molecule within a crystal lattice. More complex TLS models are broadly applicable to describing inter-domain and other internal vibrational modes of proteins. Such models can be derived and refined from crystallographic data, but they can also be used to describe the vibrational modes observed through other physical techniques or derived from molecular dynamics. The use of TLS models for protein motion has been relatively limited, partly because the physical meaning of the refined TLS parameters is not intuitive. Here, a molecular viewer, TLSView, is introduced using OpenGL and based on the mmLib library for describing and manipulating macromolecular structural models. This visualization tool allows an intuitive understanding of the physical significance of TLS models derived from crystallographic or other data and may be used as an interactive tool to display and interpret inter-domain or other motions in protein structural models. TLSView may also be used to prepare, analyze and validate TLS models for crystallographic refinement.

Development of Toxoplasma gondii Calcium-Dependent Protein Kinase 1 (TgCDPK1) Inhibitors with Potent Anti-Toxoplasma Activity

Toxoplasmosis is a disease of prominent health concern that is caused by the protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii. Proliferation of T. gondii is dependent on its ability to invade host cells, which is mediated in part by calcium-dependent protein kinase 1 (CDPK1). We have developed ATP competitive inhibitors of TgCDPK1 that block invasion of parasites into host cells, preventing their proliferation. The presence of a unique glycine gatekeeper residue in TgCDPK1 permits selective inhibition of the parasite enzyme over human kinases. These potent TgCDPK1 inhibitors do not inhibit the growth of human cell lines and represent promising candidates as toxoplasmosis therapeutics.