Martyn Winn

Phaser crystallographic software

A description is given of Phaser-2.1: software for phasing macromolecular crystal structures by molecular replacement and single-wavelength anomalous dispersion phasing.

Macromolecular TLS refinement in REFMAC at moderate resolutions.

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the translation, rotation, and screw-rotation (TLS) parameterization of anisotropic displacement parameters (ADPs). In general, each atom can deviate anisotropically from its mean position, and six parameters are necessary to describe the mean square displacements fully. These parameters are referred to as the “ADPs,” are usually denoted U, and can be visualized as “thermal ellipsoids.” The addition of an extra six parameters per atom in macromolecular refinement is usually not justified by the data, except when atomic resolution data are available (

Collaborative Computational Project, number 4: providing programs for protein crystallography.

Publisher Summary Collaborative Computational Project, number 4 (CCP4) is funded by the UK Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) to support the development and use of computational tools in the field of macromolecular crystallography. Its first aim is to make available to the community a suite of programs to aid the determination of macromolecular structures by crystallography. Its second, and equally important, aim is to promote discussion on state-of-the-art techniques and to educate users in these techniques and the associated computer programs. The latter aim is pursued via an annual workshop, a twice-yearly newsletter, and an active e-mail discussion list. As part of the educational remit of CCP4, the annual Study Weekend takes place at the beginning of January. Each year, a particular topic is chosen, and a series of introductory talks and talks that are more specialized is given. These cover background theory, specific algorithms and programs, and instructive case studies. The resulting published proceedings are often one of the most up-to-date texts available on the chosen topic. The funding of CCP4, including important contributions from industrial companies, has grown to allow the employment of full-time staff based at Daresbury Laboratory to coordinate the activities of the project.

An overview of the CCP4 project in protein crystallography: an example of a collaborative project.

The Collaborative Computational Project Number 4 (CCP4) was established in 1979 to promote collaboration between UK groups writing software for protein crystallography. CCP4 now distributes a large software suite and is active in developing new software. Equally importantly, CCP4 provides a focus for the whole protein crystallography community via meetings, workshops, email lists and various publications. In this Article, an overview is given of CCP4 activities and their administration. The emphasis is on generic features of the collaboration rather than details specific to protein crystallography. The CCP4 model has inspired similar developments in NMR, and it is hoped that the biological XAS community may pursue similar collaboration.

Automated search-model discovery and preparation for structure solution by molecular replacement.

A novel automation pipeline for macromolecular structure solution by molecular replacement is described. There is a special emphasis on the discovery and preparation of a large number of search models, all of which can be passed to the core molecular-replacement programs. For routine molecular-replacement problems, the pipeline automates what a crystallographer might do and its value is simply one of convenience. For more difficult cases, the pipeline aims to discover the particular template structure and model edits required to produce a viable search model and may succeed in finding an efficacious combination that would be missed otherwise. The pipeline is described in detail and a number of examples are given. The examples are chosen to illustrate successes in real crystallography problems and also particular features of the pipeline. It is concluded that exploring a range of search models automatically can be valuable in many cases.

Structure of the c14 rotor ring of the proton translocating chloroplast ATP synthase.

The structure of the membrane integral rotor ring of the proton translocating F1F0 ATP synthase from spinach chloroplasts was determined to 3.8 Å resolution by x-ray crystallography. The rotor ring consists of 14 identical protomers that are symmetrically arranged around a central pore. Comparisons with the c11 rotor ring of the sodium translocating ATPase from Ilyobacter tartaricus show that the conserved carboxylates involved in proton or sodium transport, respectively, are 10.6–10.8 Å apart in both c ring rotors. This finding suggests that both ATPases have the same gear distance despite their different stoichiometries. The putative proton-binding site at the conserved carboxylate Glu61 in the chloroplast ATP synthase differs from the sodium-binding site in Ilyobacter. Residues adjacent to the conserved carboxylate show increased hydrophobicity and reduced hydrogen bonding. The crystal structure reflects the protonated form of the chloroplast c ring rotor. We propose that upon deprotonation, the conformation of Glu61 is changed to another rotamer and becomes fully exposed to the periphery of the ring. Reprotonation of Glu61 by a conserved arginine in the adjacent a subunit returns the carboxylate to its initial conformation.

The crystal and molecular structures of diferric porcine and rabbit serum transferrins at resolutions of 2.15 and 2.60 Å, respectively

The serum transferrins are monomeric proteins with a molecular mass of around 80 kDa and are responsible for the transport of iron in vertebrates. The three-dimensional structures of diferric porcine and rabbit serum transferrin have been refined against X-ray diffraction data extending to 2.15 and 2.60 A, respectively. Data for both proteins were collected using synchrotron radiation at temperatures of 277 K. The porcine protein crystallizes in the space group C2, with unit-cell parameters a = 223.8, b = 44.9, c = 78.9 A, beta = 105.4 degrees with one molecule in the asymmetric unit. The structure was solved by molecular-replacement methods using rabbit serum transferrin as the search model. The structure was refined using REFMAC, with a final residual of 13.8% (R(free) = 18.2% for a 5% data sample) for all data to 2.15 A. The final model comprises 5254 protein atoms, two Fe(3+) cations and two CO(3)(2-) anions, one N-acetyl glucosamine moiety and 494 water molecules. The rabbit protein crystallizes in space group P4(3)2(1)2, with unit-cell parameters a = 127.2, c = 144.9 A and one molecule per asymmetric unit. The structure was solved using the method of multiple isomorphous replacement and refined using REFMAC to give a final residual of 18.6% (R(free) = 22.2% for a 5% data sample) for all data to 2.60 A. The final model comprises 5216 protein atoms, two Fe(3+) cations and two CO(3)(2-) anions, a Cl(-) anion and 206 solvent molecules; there is no clear indication of the carbohydrate moiety attached to Asn490 (rabbit serum numbering). Both molecules adopt a bilobal structure typical for members of the transferrin family. Each of the structurally homologous lobes contains two dissimilar domains with a single iron-binding site buried within the interdomain cleft. The porcine serum protein lacks an interdomain disulfide bridge close to the connecting peptide between the lobes, but this seems to have little effect on the overall orientation of the lobes. The N-lobes of both proteins possess lysine residues, one from each of the two domains, that lie in close proximity to one another to form the so-called dilysine trigger. The more acid-labile release of iron from serum transferrins than from lactoferrins is discussed.

Structural analysis of a glycoside hydrolase family 43 arabinoxylan arabinofuranohydrolase in complex with xylotetraose reveals a different binding mechanism compared with other members of the same family.

AXHs (arabinoxylan arabinofuranohydrolases) are alpha-L-arabinofuranosidases that specifically hydrolyse the glycosidic bond between arabinofuranosyl substituents and xylopyranosyl backbone residues of arabinoxylan. Bacillus subtilis was recently shown to produce an AXH that cleaves arabinose units from O-2- or O-3-mono-substituted xylose residues: BsAXH-m2,3 (B. subtilis AXH-m2,3). Crystallographic analysis reveals a two-domain structure for this enzyme: a catalytic domain displaying a five-bladed beta-propeller fold characteristic of GH (glycoside hydrolase) family 43 and a CBM (carbohydrate-binding module) with a beta-sandwich fold belonging to CBM family 6. Binding of substrate to BsAXH-m2,3 is largely based on hydrophobic stacking interactions, which probably allow the positional flexibility needed to hydrolyse both arabinose substituents at the O-2 or O-3 position of the xylose unit. Superposition of the BsAXH-m2,3 structure with known structures of the GH family 43 exo-acting enzymes, beta-xylosidase and alpha-L-arabinanase, each in complex with their substrate, reveals a different orientation of the sugar backbone.

The new CCP4 Coordinate Library as a toolkit for the design of coordinate-related applications in protein crystallography

The new CCP4 Coordinate Library is a development aiming to provide a common layer of coordinate-related functionality to the existing applications in the CCP4 suite, as well as a variety of tools that can simplify the design of new applications where they relate to atomic coordinates. The Library comprises a wide spectrum of useful functions, ranging from parsing coordinate formats and elementary editing operations on the coordinate hierarchy of biomolecules, to high-level functionality such as calculation of secondary structure, interatomic bonds, atomic contacts, symmetry transformations, structure superposition and many others. Most of the functions are available in a C++ object interface; however, a Fortran interface is provided for compatibility with older CCP4 applications. The paper describes the general principles of the Library design and the most important functionality. The Library, together with documentation, is available under the LGPL license from the CCP4 suite version 5.0 and higher.

Ectodomain orientation, conformational plasticity and oligomerization of ErbB1 receptors investigated by molecular dynamics.

Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR; ErbB1, HER1 in humans) is a receptor tyrosine kinase triggering signals across the plasma membranes of cells to determine cell fate. We have used molecular dynamics simulations to investigate structural models of ErbB1 ectodomains. We show that, with minor rearrangements, the ErbB1 back-to-back dimer can align almost flat on the cell membrane. This is in contrast to the traditional picture of ErbB1 dimers standing proud of the membrane, but in line with recent FRET and EM experiments. Interaction with the membrane leads to conformational changes in the dimer, which further stabilize the back-to-back interface. On the membrane, two dimers can associate forming a tetramer. This is enabled by a head-to-head interface, involving the ligand binding side of the ectodomain, and which significantly enhances ligand binding. A weak head-to-head interface has been seen in crystal structures, but is found to stabilise appreciably in our simulation. We also find that the domains IV, connecting the receptor to the membrane, weakly interact with each other. These simulations illustrate some of the flexibility of the ErbB1 ectodomains, and may help to explain recent experimental results.