scholarly journals Analysis of the Quality of Macromolecular Structures

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dinakar M. Salunke
Keyword(s):  
Structural Biology ◽  
Model Building ◽  
Structural Data ◽  
Data Bank ◽  
X Ray Crystallography ◽  
Structure Factors ◽  
Scientific Systems ◽  
Published Research

AbstractStructure determination utilizing X-ray crystallography involves collection of diffraction data, determination of initial phases followed by iterative rounds of model building and crystallographic refinement to improve the phases and minimize the differences between calculated and observed structure factors. At each of these stages, a variety of statistical filters exist to ensure appropriate validation. Biologically important observations often come from interpretations of signals that need to be carefully deciphered from noise and therefore human intervention is as important as the automated filters. Currently, all structural data are deposited in the Protein Data Bank and this repository is continuously evolving to incorporate possible new improvements in macromolecular crystallography. The journals that publish data arising from structural studies modulate their policies to take cognizance of new improved methodologies. The PDB and journals have evolved an accepted protocol to ensure the integrity of crystallographic results. As a result, the quality of available data and interpretations are becoming better over the years. However, there have been periodic efforts by some individuals who misuse validation mechanisms to selectively target published research through spurious challenges. These actions do more harm to the field of structural biology and runs counter to their claim to cleanse the system. The scientific systems in structural biology are robust and capable of self-correction and unwarranted vigilantism is counterproductive.

Reflections on the Many Facets of Protein Microcrystallography

2014 ◽  
Vol 67 (12) ◽  
pp. 1793 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marion Boudes ◽  
Damià Garriga ◽  
Fasséli Coulibaly
Keyword(s):  
Structural Biology ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Data Bank ◽  
Biological Macromolecules ◽  
Structure Based Drug Design ◽  
X Ray ◽  
X Ray Crystallography ◽  
The Many ◽  
The Impact

The use of X-ray crystallography for the structure determination of biological macromolecules has experienced a steady expansion over the last 20 years with the Protein Data Bank growing from <1000 deposited structures in 1992 to >100 000 in 2014. The large number of structures determined each year not only reflects the impact of X-ray crystallography on many disciplines in the biological and medical fields but also its accessibility to non-expert laboratories. Thus protein crystallography is now largely a mainstream research technique and is routinely integrated in high-throughput pipelines such as structural genomics projects and structure-based drug design. Yet, significant frontiers remain that continuously require methodological developments. In particular, membrane proteins, large assemblies, and proteins from scarce natural sources still represent challenging targets for which obtaining the large diffracting crystals required for classical crystallography is often difficult. These limitations have fostered the emergence of microcrystallography, novel approaches in structural biology that collectively aim at determining structures from the smallest crystals. Here, we review the state of the art of macromolecular microcrystallography and recent progress achieved in this field.

Using cryo-electron microscopy maps for X-ray structure determination of homologues

2020 ◽  
Vol 76 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-72
Author(s):  
Lingxiao Zeng ◽  
Wei Ding ◽  
Quan Hao
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Hybrid Method ◽  
Model Building ◽  
Test Cases ◽  
X Ray ◽  
X Ray Crystallography ◽  
Sequence Identity ◽  
Whole Process ◽  
Cryo Electron Microscopy

The combination of cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) and X-ray crystallography reflects an important trend in structural biology. In a previously published study, a hybrid method for the determination of X-ray structures using initial phases provided by the corresponding parts of cryo-EM maps was presented. However, if the target structure of X-ray crystallography is not identical but homologous to the corresponding molecular model of the cryo-EM map, then the decrease in the accuracy of the starting phases makes the whole process more difficult. Here, a modified hybrid method is presented to handle such cases. The whole process includes three steps: cryo-EM map replacement, phase extension by NCS averaging and dual-space iterative model building. When the resolution gap between the cryo-EM and X-ray crystallographic data is large and the sequence identity is low, an intermediate stage of model building is necessary. Six test cases have been studied with sequence identity between the corresponding molecules in the cryo-EM and X-ray structures ranging from 34 to 52% and with sequence similarity ranging from 86 to 91%. This hybrid method consistently produced models with reasonable R work and R free values which agree well with the previously determined X-ray structures for all test cases, thus indicating the general applicability of the method for X-ray structure determination of homologues using cryo-EM maps as a starting point.

scholarly journals Understanding Structural Features of Microbial Lipases–-An Overview

2008 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. ACI.S551 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Geraldine Sandana Mala ◽  
Satoru Takeuchi
Keyword(s):  
Structural Analysis ◽  
Candida Rugosa ◽  
Structural Data ◽  
Data Bank ◽  
Candida Rugosa Lipase ◽  
Structural Features ◽  
X Ray Crystallography ◽  
Versatile Tool ◽  
Microbial Lipases

The structural elucidations of microbial lipases have been of prime interest since the 1980s. Knowledge of structural features plays an important role in designing and engineering lipases for specific purposes. Significant structural data have been presented for few microbial lipases, while, there is still a structure-deficit, that is, most lipase structures are yet to be resolved. A search for ‘lipase structure’ in the RCSB Protein Data Bank ( http://www.rcsb.org/pdb/ ) returns only 93 hits (as of September 2007) and, the NCBI database ( http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ) reports 89 lipase structures as compared to 14719 core nucleotide records. It is therefore worthwhile to consider investigations on the structural analysis of microbial lipases. This review is intended to provide a collection of resources on the instrumental, chemical and bioinformatics approaches for structure analyses. X-ray crystallography is a versatile tool for the structural biochemists and is been exploited till today. The chemical methods of recent interests include molecular modeling and combinatorial designs. Bioinformatics has surged striking interests in protein structural analysis with the advent of innumerable tools. Furthermore, a literature platform of the structural elucidations so far investigated has been presented with detailed descriptions as applicable to microbial lipases. A case study of Candida rugosa lipase (CRL) has also been discussed which highlights important structural features also common to most lipases. A general profile of lipase has been vividly described with an overview of lipase research reviewed in the past.

scholarly journals From lows to highs: using low-resolution models to phase X-ray data

2013 ◽  
Vol 69 (11) ◽  
pp. 2257-2265 ◽  
Author(s):  
David I. Stuart ◽  
Nicola G. A. Abrescia
Keyword(s):  
Structural Biology ◽  
General Concept ◽  
Molecular Replacement ◽  
X Ray ◽  
X Ray Crystallography ◽  
X Ray Scattering ◽  
Phase Extension ◽  
Intact Virus ◽  
Structural Methods

The study of virus structures has contributed to methodological advances in structural biology that are generally applicable (molecular replacement and noncrystallographic symmetry are just two of the best known examples). Moreover, structural virology has been instrumental in forging the more general concept of exploiting phase information derived from multiple structural techniques. This hybridization of structural methods, primarily electron microscopy (EM) and X-ray crystallography, but also small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, is central to integrative structural biology. Here, the interplay of X-ray crystallography and EM is illustrated through the example of the structural determination of the marine lipid-containing bacteriophage PM2. Molecular replacement starting from an ∼13 Å cryo-EM reconstruction, followed by cycling density averaging, phase extension and solvent flattening, gave the X-ray structure of the intact virus at 7 Å resolution This in turn served as a bridge to phase, to 2.5 Å resolution, data from twinned crystals of the major coat protein (P2), ultimately yielding a quasi-atomic model of the particle, which provided significant insights into virus evolution and viral membrane biogenesis.

scholarly journals Structure determination of GPCRs: cryo-EM compared with X-ray crystallography

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Javier García-Nafría ◽  
Christopher G. Tate
Keyword(s):  
Structural Biology ◽  
Structure Determination ◽  
Drug Targets ◽  
Cellular Systems ◽  
Single Family ◽  
Structure Based Drug Design ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Surface Receptors ◽  
X Ray Crystallography

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are the largest single family of cell surface receptors encoded by the human genome and they play pivotal roles in co-ordinating cellular systems throughout the human body, making them ideal drug targets. Structural biology has played a key role in defining how receptors are activated and signal through G proteins and β-arrestins. The application of structure-based drug design (SBDD) is now yielding novel compounds targeting GPCRs. There is thus significant interest from both academia and the pharmaceutical industry in the structural biology of GPCRs as currently only about one quarter of human non-odorant receptors have had their structure determined. Initially, all the structures were determined by X-ray crystallography, but recent advances in electron cryo-microscopy (cryo-EM) now make GPCRs tractable targets for single-particle cryo-EM with comparable resolution to X-ray crystallography. So far this year, 78% of the 99 GPCR structures deposited in the PDB (Jan–Jul 2021) were determined by cryo-EM. Cryo-EM has also opened up new possibilities in GPCR structural biology, such as determining structures of GPCRs embedded in a lipid nanodisc and multiple GPCR conformations from a single preparation. However, X-ray crystallography still has a number of advantages, particularly in the speed of determining many structures of the same receptor bound to different ligands, an essential prerequisite for effective SBDD. We will discuss the relative merits of cryo-EM and X-ray crystallography for the structure determination of GPCRs and the future potential of both techniques.

scholarly journals An Open Source Mesh Generation Platform for Biophysical Modeling Using Realistic Cellular Geometries

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher T. Lee ◽  
Justin G. Laughlin ◽  
John B. Moody ◽  
Rommie E. Amaro ◽  
J. Andrew McCammon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Structural Biology ◽  
Mesh Generation ◽  
Structural Information ◽  
Electron Tomography ◽  
Structural Data ◽  
Biophysical Modeling ◽  
X Ray Crystallography ◽  
Biophysical Models ◽  
Geometric Mesh ◽  
And Mathematics

ABSTRACTAdvances in imaging methods such as electron microscopy, tomography, and other modalities are enabling high-resolution reconstructions of cellular and organelle geometries. Such advances pave the way for using these geometries for biophysical and mathematical modeling once these data can be represented as a geometric mesh, which, when carefully conditioned, enables the discretization and solution of partial differential equations. In this study, we outline the steps for a naïve user to approach GAMer 2, a mesh generation code written in C++ designed to convert structural datasets to realistic geometric meshes, while preserving the underlying shapes. We present two example cases, 1) mesh generation at the subcellular scale as informed by electron tomography, and 2) meshing a protein with structure from x-ray crystallography. We further demonstrate that the meshes generated by GAMer are suitable for use with numerical methods. Together, this collection of libraries and tools simplifies the process of constructing realistic geometric meshes from structural biology data.SIGNIFICANCEAs biophysical structure determination methods improve, the rate of new structural data is increasing. New methods that allow the interpretation, analysis, and reuse of such structural information will thus take on commensurate importance. In particular, geometric meshes, such as those commonly used in graphics and mathematics, can enable a myriad of mathematical analysis. In this work, we describe GAMer 2, a mesh generation library designed for biological datasets. Using GAMer 2 and associated tools PyGAMer and BlendGAMer, biologists can robustly generate computer and algorithm friendly geometric mesh representations informed by structural biology data. We expect that GAMer 2 will be a valuable tool to bring realistic geometries to biophysical models.

scholarly journals DETERMINATION OF QUALITY OF CAREER DEVELOPMENT AND MODEL BUILDING OF THE PROCESS OF DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF SYSTEM OF OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY MANAGEMENT

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 529-535
Author(s):  
Татьяна Шарашкина ◽  
Tatyana Sharashkina
Keyword(s):  
Control System ◽  
Occupational Safety ◽  
Model Building ◽  
Safety Management ◽  
Labor Protection ◽  
Normative Documents ◽  
The Russian Federation ◽  
Definition Of

In the article various approaches to determination of quality of labor life are considered and on their basis author&#180;s definition of this concept is given. As an element of quality of labor life the special attention is paid to a control system of labor protection. The acts and normative documents regulating labor protection in the Russian Federation are provided in the article. Process of development and deployment of a control system of labor protection at the enterprise is presented in the form of creation of business process by IDEF0 technique. The program of formation of a control system of labor protection according to requirements of GOST 12.0.230-2007 is also developed.

Structural Analysis of Proteins on Lipid Substrates

2000 ◽  
Vol 6 (S2) ◽  
pp. 1182-1183
Author(s):  
Elizabeth M. Wilson-Kubalek
Keyword(s):  
Structural Information ◽  
Rapid Determination ◽  
3D Structure ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Molecular Complexes ◽  
Structural Data ◽  
X Ray Crystallography ◽  
Helical Protein ◽  
3D Structure Determination

Electron microscopy (EM) has become an increasingly powerful method for the determination of three-dimensional (3D) structures of proteins and macromolecular complexes. EM offers advantages over X-ray crystallography and NMR for obtaining structural information about proteins in physiological conditions, as components of large assemblies, that cannot be obtained in large quantity, or that fail to yield 3D crystals. EM has been used to obtain structural data from images of isolated molecules and molecular complexes, two-dimensional (2D) protein crystals, and helical protein arrays. Helically arranged proteins allow the most rapid determination of 3D maps because they contain a complete range of equally spaced molecular views, therefore no tilting of the sample with respect to the electron beam is required. However, so far 3D structure determination of helical assemblies has been limited to proteins that naturally adopt this organization and to proteins that fortuitously crystallize as helices.

scholarly journals Identifying, studying and making good use of macromolecular crystals

2014 ◽  
Vol 70 (8) ◽  
pp. 993-1008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guillermo Calero ◽  
Aina E. Cohen ◽  
Joseph R. Luft ◽  
Janet Newman ◽  
Edward H. Snell
Keyword(s):  
Data Collection ◽  
Visible Light ◽  
Structural Biology ◽  
Protein Structures ◽  
Data Bank ◽  
Potential Outcomes ◽  
Structural Knowledge ◽  
X Ray ◽  
X Ray Crystallography ◽  
Molecular Scale

Structural biology has contributed tremendous knowledge to the understanding of life on the molecular scale. The Protein Data Bank, a depository of this structural knowledge, currently contains over 100 000 protein structures, with the majority stemming from X-ray crystallography. As the name might suggest, crystallography requires crystals. As detectors become more sensitive and X-ray sources more intense, the notion of a crystal is gradually changing from one large enough to embellish expensive jewellery to objects that have external dimensions of the order of the wavelength of visible light. Identifying these crystals is a prerequisite to their study. This paper discusses developments in identifying these crystals during crystallization screening and distinguishing them from other potential outcomes. The practical aspects of ensuring that once a crystal is identified it can then be positioned in the X-ray beam for data collection are also addressed.

scholarly journals Worldwide Protein Data Bank validation information: usage and trends

2018 ◽  
Vol 74 (3) ◽  
pp. 237-244 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oliver S. Smart ◽  
Vladimír Horský ◽  
Swanand Gore ◽  
Radka Svobodová Vařeková ◽  
Veronika Bendová ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Protein Data Bank ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Data Bank ◽  
Resonance Spectroscopy ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Validation Metrics ◽  
Task Forces ◽  
X Ray Crystallography ◽  
Structure Properties

Realising the importance of assessing the quality of the biomolecular structures deposited in the Protein Data Bank (PDB), the Worldwide Protein Data Bank (wwPDB) partners established Validation Task Forces to obtain advice on the methods and standards to be used to validate structures determined by X-ray crystallography, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and three-dimensional electron cryo-microscopy. The resulting wwPDB validation pipeline is an integral part of the wwPDB OneDep deposition, biocuration and validation system. The wwPDB Validation Service webserver (https://validate.wwpdb.org) can be used to perform checks prior to deposition. Here, it is shown how validation metrics can be combined to produce an overall score that allows the ranking of macromolecular structures and domains in search results. The ValTrendsDBdatabase provides users with a convenient way to access and analyse validation information and other properties of X-ray crystal structures in the PDB, including investigating trends in and correlations between different structure properties and validation metrics.

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