Mapping the conformational itinerary of β-glycosidases by X-ray crystallography

2003 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 523-527 ◽  
Author(s):  
G.J. Davies ◽  
V.M.-A. Ducros ◽  
A. Varrot ◽  
D.L. Zechel

The conformational agenda harnessed by different glycosidases along the reaction pathway has been mapped by X-ray crystallography. The transition state(s) formed during the enzymic hydrolysis of glycosides features strong oxocarbenium-ion-like character involving delocalization across the C-1–O-5 bond. This demands planarity of C-5, O-5, C-1 and C-2 at or near the transition state. It is widely, but incorrectly, assumed that the transition state must be 4H3 (half-chair). The transition-state geometry is equally well supported, for pyranosides, by both the 4H3 and 3H4 half-chair and 2,5B and B2,5 boat conformations. A number of retaining β-glycosidases acting on gluco-configured substrates have been trapped in Michaelis and covalent intermediate complexes in 1S3 (skew-boat) and 4C1 (chair) conformations, respectively, pointing to a 4H3-conformed transition state. Such a 4H3 conformation is consistent with the tight binding of 4E- (envelope) and 4H3-conformed transition-state mimics to these enzymes and with the solution structures of compounds bearing an sp2 hybridized anomeric centre. Recent work reveals a 1S5 Michaelis complex for β-mannanases which, together with the 0S2 covalent intermediate, strongly implicates a B2,5 transition state for β-mannanases, again consistent with the solution structures of manno-configured compounds bearing an sp2 anomeric centre. Other enzymes may use different strategies. Xylanases in family GH-11 reveal a covalent intermediate structure in a 2,5B conformation which would also suggest a similarly shaped transition state, while 2S0-conformed substrate mimics spanning the active centre of inverting cellulases from family GH-6 may also be indicative of a 2,5B transition-state conformation. Work in other laboratories on both retaining and inverting α-mannosidases also suggests non-4H3 transition states for these medically important enzymes. Three-dimensional structures of enzyme complexes should now be able to drive the design of transition-state mimics that are specific for given enzymes, as opposed to being generic or merely fortuitous.

Author(s):  
S. Cusack ◽  
J.-C. Jésior

Three-dimensional reconstruction techniques using electron microscopy have been principally developed for application to 2-D arrays (i.e. monolayers) of biological molecules and symmetrical single particles (e.g. helical viruses). However many biological molecules that crystallise form multilayered microcrystals which are unsuitable for study by either the standard methods of 3-D reconstruction or, because of their size, by X-ray crystallography. The grid sectioning technique enables a number of different projections of such microcrystals to be obtained in well defined directions (e.g. parallel to crystal axes) and poses the problem of how best these projections can be used to reconstruct the packing and shape of the molecules forming the microcrystal.Given sufficient projections there may be enough information to do a crystallographic reconstruction in Fourier space. We however have considered the situation where only a limited number of projections are available, as for example in the case of catalase platelets where three orthogonal and two diagonal projections have been obtained (Fig. 1).


1988 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 429-477 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Kühlbrandt

As recently as 10 years ago, the prospect of solving the structure of any membrane protein by X-ray crystallography seemed remote. Since then, the threedimensional (3-D) structures of two membrane protein complexes, the bacterial photosynthetic reaction centres of Rhodopseudomonas viridis (Deisenhofer et al. 1984, 1985) and of Rhodobacter sphaeroides (Allen et al. 1986, 1987 a, 6; Chang et al. 1986) have been determined at high resolution. This astonishing progress would not have been possible without the pioneering work of Michel and Garavito who first succeeded in growing 3-D crystals of the membrane proteins bacteriorhodopsin (Michel & Oesterhelt, 1980) and matrix porin (Garavito & Rosenbusch, 1980). X-ray crystallography is still the only routine method for determining the 3-D structures of biological macromolecules at high resolution and well-ordered 3-D crystals of sufficient size are the essential prerequisite.


2007 ◽  
Vol 72 (4) ◽  
pp. 475-491 ◽  
Author(s):  
Perdita Arndt ◽  
Vladimir V. Burlakov ◽  
Ulrike Jäger-Fiedler ◽  
Marcus Klahn ◽  
Anke Spannenberg ◽  
...  

The titanocene complexes Cp'2Ti(η2-Me3SiC2SiMe3) (Cp' = Cp (1), Cp* (2)) react with pyrrole under the formation of the titanium(III) mono-N-pyrrolides Cp'2Ti(NC4H4) (Cp' = Cp (6), Cp* (7)); whereas the corresponding zirconocene system Cp2Zr(η2-Me3SiC2SiMe3)(thf) (3) forms in a different reaction pathway first the Cp2Zr(NC4H4)[C(SiMe3)=CH(SiMe3)] (8) and then the zirconium(IV) bis-N-pyrrolide Cp2Zr(NC4H4)2 (11). With Cp*2Zr(η2-Me3SiC2SiMe3) (4) and pyrrole, the zirconium(IV) mono-N-pyrrolide with an agostic alkenyl group Cp*2Zr(NC4H4)[C(SiMe3)=CH(SiMe3)] (9) was obtained. In the reaction of the ethylenebistetrahydroindenyl (ebthi) complex rac-(ebthi)Zr(η2-Me3SiC2SiMe3) (5) with 2,3,5,6-tetrafluoroaniline under N-H bond activation, a complex with an agostic alkenyl group rac-(ebthi)Zr(NH-C6HF4)[C(SiMe3)=CH(SiMe3)] (10) was formed. Compound 10 reacts with additional 2,3,5,6-tetrafluoroaniline to give the bisanilide rac-(ebthi)Zr(NH-C6HF4)2 (12) which was obtained directly from 5 with two equivalents of 2,3,5,6-tetrafluoroaniline. In reactions of complex 5 with unsubstituted aniline to rac-(ebthi)Zr(NH-C6H5)2 (13) and with pentafluorophenol to bisphenolate rac-(ebthi)Zr(O-C6F5)2 (14), no intermediates could be isolated. The new reaction products 6, 9, 10, 12, 13 and 14 were investigated by X-ray crystallography.


2015 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 1072-1079 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geoffrey K. Feld ◽  
Michael Heymann ◽  
W. Henry Benner ◽  
Tommaso Pardini ◽  
Ching-Ju Tsai ◽  
...  

X-ray free-electron lasers (XFELs) offer a new avenue to the structural probing of complex materials, including biomolecules. Delivery of precious sample to the XFEL beam is a key consideration, as the sample of interest must be serially replaced after each destructive pulse. The fixed-target approach to sample delivery involves depositing samples on a thin-film support and subsequent serial introductionviaa translating stage. Some classes of biological materials, including two-dimensional protein crystals, must be introduced on fixed-target supports, as they require a flat surface to prevent sample wrinkling. A series of wafer and transmission electron microscopy (TEM)-style grid supports constructed of low-Zplastic have been custom-designed and produced. Aluminium TEM grid holders were engineered, capable of delivering up to 20 different conventional or plastic TEM grids using fixed-target stages available at the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS). As proof-of-principle, X-ray diffraction has been demonstrated from two-dimensional crystals of bacteriorhodopsin and three-dimensional crystals of anthrax toxin protective antigen mounted on these supports at the LCLS. The benefits and limitations of these low-Zfixed-target supports are discussed; it is the authors' belief that they represent a viable and efficient alternative to previously reported fixed-target supports for conducting diffraction studies with XFELs.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Bücker ◽  
Pascal Hogan-Lamarre ◽  
R. J. Dwayne Miller

Serial electron diffraction (SerialED) is an emerging technique, which applies the snapshot data-collection mode of serial X-ray crystallography to three-dimensional electron diffraction (3D Electron Diffraction), forgoing the conventional rotation method. Similarly to serial X-ray crystallography, this approach leads to almost complete absence of radiation damage effects even for the most sensitive samples, and allows for a high level of automation. However, SerialED also necessitates new techniques of data processing, which combine existing pipelines for rotation electron diffraction and serial X-ray crystallography with some more particular solutions for challenges arising in SerialED specifically. Here, we introduce our analysis pipeline for SerialED data, and its implementation using the CrystFEL and diffractem program packages. Detailed examples are provided in extensive supplementary code.


Crystals ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 408 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruo-Yan Li ◽  
Xiao-Xin An ◽  
Juan-Li Wu ◽  
You-Peng Zhang ◽  
Wen-Kui Dong

An unexpected trinuclear Co(II) complex, [Co3(L2)2(μ-OAc)2(CH3OH)2]·2CH3OH (H2L2 = 4,4′-dibromo-2,2′-[ethylenedioxybis(nitrilomethylidyne)]diphenol) constructed from a half-Salamo-based ligand (HL1 = 2-[O-(1-ethyloxyamide)]oxime-4-bromophenol) and Co(OAc)2·4H2O, has been synthesized and characterized by elemental analyses, infrared spectra (IR), UV-Vis spectra, X-ray crystallography and Hirshfeld surface analysis. The Co(II) complex contains three Co(II) atoms, two completely deprotonated (L2)2− units, two bridged acetate molecules, two coordinated methanol molecules and two crystalline methanol molecules, and finally, a three-dimensional supramolecular structure with infinite extension was formed. Interestingly, during the formation of the Co(II) complex, the ligand changed from half-Salamo-like to a symmetrical single Salamo-like ligand due to the bonding interactions of the molecules. In addition, the antimicrobial activities of HL1 and its Co(II) complex were also investigated.


2006 ◽  
Vol 59 (5) ◽  
pp. 320 ◽  
Author(s):  
Graham Smith ◽  
Urs D. Wermuth ◽  
Peter C. Healy ◽  
Jonathan M. White

The 1:1 proton-transfer brucinium compounds from the reaction of the alkaloid brucine with 5-nitrosalicylic acid, 3,5-dinitrosalicylic acid, and 5-sulfosalicylic acid, namely anhydrous brucinium 5-nitrosalicylate (1), brucinium 3,5-dinitrosalicylate monohydrate (2), and brucinium 5-sulfosalicylate trihydrate (3) have been prepared and their crystal structures determined by X-ray crystallography. All structures further demonstrate the selectivity of brucine for meta-substituted benzoic acids and comprise three-dimensional hydrogen-bonded framework polymers. Two of the compounds (1 and 3) have the previously described undulating brucine sheet host-substructures which incorporate interstitially hydrogen-bonded salicylate anion guest species and additionally in 3 the water molecules of solvation. The structure of 2 differs in having a three-centre brucinium–salicylate anion bidentate N+–H···O(carboxyl) hydrogen-bonding association linking the species through interstitial associations involving also the water molecules of solvation. A review of the crystallographic structural literature on strychnine and brucine is also given.


2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (5) ◽  
pp. 055502 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aitor Larrañaga ◽  
Nestor Goikoetxea ◽  
Mikel Iturrate ◽  
Erlantz Lizundia

Our understanding of the function of protein molecules was revolutionized in the 1960s by the use of X-ray crystallography to give a three-dimensional picture of their structures at atomic resolution. The structure of myoglobin was rapidly followed by the structure of several hydrolytic enzymes such as lysozyme, carboxypeptidase, ribonuclease, chymotrypsin, and subtilisin; and, not long after, by the much more complicated structure of haemoglobin, composed of four myoglobin-like molecules interacting with each other. The first hydrolytic enzyme structures showed us how enzymes perform biological catalysis by immobilizing their substrates at the enzyme active site, and gave us definite ideas about the specific functions of different parts of the protein molecules. These ideas had to be treated as hypotheses, because there was no direct method to check them. A few particular points could be proved by cunning but tedious experiments.


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