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Diffraction Quality (diffraction + quality)
Selected AbstractsApplication of protein engineering to enhance crystallizability and improve crystal propertiesACTA CRYSTALLOGRAPHICA SECTION D, Issue 5 2010Zygmunt S. Derewenda Until recently, protein crystallization has mostly been regarded as a stochastic event over which the investigator has little or no control. With the dramatic technological advances in synchrotron-radiation sources and detectors and the equally impressive progress in crystallographic software, including automated model building and validation, crystallization has increasingly become the rate-limiting step in X-ray diffraction studies of macromolecules. However, with the advent of recombinant methods it has also become possible to engineer target proteins and their complexes for higher propensity to form crystals with desirable X-ray diffraction qualities. As most proteins that are under investigation today are obtained by heterologous overexpression, these techniques hold the promise of becoming routine tools with the potential to transform classical crystallization screening into a more rational high-success-rate approach. This article presents an overview of protein-engineering methods designed to enhance crystallizability and discusses a number of examples of their successful application. [source] Autolabo: an automated system for ligand-soaking experiments with protein crystalsJOURNAL OF APPLIED CRYSTALLOGRAPHY, Issue 4 2010Michihiro Sugahara Ligand soaking of protein crystals is important for the preparation of heavy-atom derivative crystals for experimental phasing as well as for large-scale ligand screening in pharmaceutical developments. To facilitate laborious large-scale ligand screening, to reduce the risk of human contact with hazardous ligand reagents and to increase the success rate of the soaking experiments, a protein crystallization robot `Autolabo' has been developed and implemented in the high-throughput crystallization-to-structure pipeline at RIKEN SPring-8 Center. The main functions of this robotic system are the production of protein crystals for experiments, the ligand soaking of these crystals and the observation of soaked crystals. The separate eight-channel dispensers of Autolabo eliminate the cross-contamination of reagents which should be strictly avoided in the ligand-soaking experiment. Furthermore, the automated approach reduces physical damage to crystals during experiments when compared with the conventional manual approach, and thereby has the potential to yield better quality diffraction data. Autolabo's performance as a ligand-soaking system was evaluated with a crystallization experiment on ten proteins from different sources and a heavy-atom derivatization experiment on three proteins using a versatile cryoprotectant containing heavy-atom reagents as ligands. The crystallization test confirmed reliable crystal reproduction in a single condition and the capability for crystallization with nucleants to improve crystal quality. Finally, Autolabo reproducibly derivatized the test protein crystals with sufficient diffraction quality for experimental phasing and model building, indicating a high potentiality of this automated approach in ligand-soaking experiments. [source] Pressure-induced high-density amorphous ice in protein crystalsJOURNAL OF APPLIED CRYSTALLOGRAPHY, Issue 1 2008Chae Un Kim Crystal cryocooling has been used in X-ray protein crystallography to mitigate radiation damage during diffraction data collection. However, cryocooling typically increases crystal mosaicity and often requires a time-consuming search for cryoprotectants. A recently developed high-pressure cryocooling method reduces crystal damage relative to traditional cryocooling procedures and eases or eliminates the need to screen for cryoprotectants. It has been proposed that the formation of high-density amorphous (HDA) ice within the protein crystal is responsible for the excellent diffraction quality of the high-pressure cryocooled crystals. This paper reports X-ray data that confirm the presence of HDA ice in the high-pressure cryocooled protein crystallization solution and protein crystals analyzed at ambient pressure. Diffuse scattering with a spacing characteristic of HDA ice is seen at low temperatures. This scattering then becomes characteristic successively to low-density amorphous, cubic and hexagonal ice phases as the temperature is gradually raised from 80 to 230,K, and seems to be highly correlated with the diffraction quality of crystals. [source] How precise are measurements of unit-cell dimensions from single crystals?ACTA CRYSTALLOGRAPHICA SECTION B, Issue 4 2000Frank H. Herbstein The results of single-site and many-site measurements of cell dimensions from single crystals are compared for Bond and four-circle diffractometers using samples of corundum (essentially pure rhombohedral ,-Al2O3, aluminum oxide) of high diffraction quality, where the effects of small changes in temperature and composition (Cr2O3, chromium oxide, in solid solution) can be taken into account. Similar comparisons are made for four-circle diffractometer measurements on ruby (,-Al2O3, with 0.46 wt % Cr in solid solution). The precisions are some parts in 105. There is partial support for the Taylor,Kennard [Acta Cryst. (1986), B42, 112,120] dictum that standard uncertainties (s.u.s) of cell parameters from routine four-circle diffractometer measurements are less than those for many-site measurements by factors of 5 for cell lengths and 2.5 for cell angles. For organic crystals, independent repetitions of adequate quality for comparison and analysis of routine four-circle diffractometer measurements are available only for ,-oxalic acid dihydrate and anthracene. The experimental standard uncertainties given for these two crystals agree reasonably well with the sample s.u.s at room temperature, but appreciably less well at ,100,K, again giving partial support to the Taylor,Kennard dictum. The relation between specimen characteristics and attainable precision is emphasized; the precisions for routine measurements on good quality organic crystals are some parts in 104. Area-detector measurements of cell dimensions have also been appraised; currently published s.u.s from such measurements appear to be highly unreliable, and this is supported by a recent analysis of the operation of such diffractometers [Paciorek et al. (1999). Acta Cryst. A55, 543,557]. Formulation of a standard protocol for such measurements is badly needed. The dangers inherent in high degrees of replication are illustrated by recounting Kapteyn's Parable of the Chinese Emperor. Attention is drawn to the fact that there has been little improvement in claimed precisions over the past 40,60 years. [source] Diffraction cartography: applying microbeams to macromolecular crystallography sample evaluation and data collectionACTA CRYSTALLOGRAPHICA SECTION D, Issue 8 2010Matthew W. Bowler Crystals of biological macromolecules often exhibit considerable inter-crystal and intra-crystal variation in diffraction quality. This requires the evaluation of many samples prior to data collection, a practice that is already widespread in macromolecular crystallography. As structural biologists move towards tackling ever more ambitious projects, new automated methods of sample evaluation will become crucial to the success of many projects, as will the availability of synchrotron-based facilities optimized for high-throughput evaluation of the diffraction characteristics of samples. Here, two examples of the types of advanced sample evaluation that will be required are presented: searching within a sample-containing loop for microcrystals using an X-ray beam of 5,µm diameter and selecting the most ordered regions of relatively large crystals using X-ray beams of 5,50,µm in diameter. A graphical user interface developed to assist with these screening methods is also presented. For the case in which the diffraction quality of a relatively large crystal is probed using a microbeam, the usefulness and implications of mapping diffraction-quality heterogeneity (diffraction cartography) are discussed. The implementation of these techniques in the context of planned upgrades to the ESRF's structural biology beamlines is also presented. [source] A rational approach to heavy-atom derivative screeningACTA CRYSTALLOGRAPHICA SECTION D, Issue 4 2010M. Gordon Joyce Despite the development in recent times of a range of techniques for phasing macromolecules, the conventional heavy-atom derivatization method still plays a significant role in protein structure determination. However, this method has become less popular in modern high-throughput oriented crystallography, mostly owing to its trial-and-error nature, which often results in lengthy empirical searches requiring large numbers of well diffracting crystals. In addition, the phasing power of heavy-atom derivatives is often compromised by lack of isomorphism or even loss of diffraction. In order to overcome the difficulties associated with the `classical' heavy-atom derivatization procedure, an attempt has been made to develop a rational crystal-free heavy-atom derivative-screening method and a quick-soak derivatization procedure which allows heavy-atom compound identification. The method includes three basic steps: (i) the selection of likely reactive compounds for a given protein and specific crystallization conditions based on pre-defined heavy-atom compound reactivity profiles, (ii) screening of the chosen heavy-atom compounds for their ability to form protein adducts using mass spectrometry and (iii) derivatization of crystals with selected heavy-metal compounds using the quick-soak method to maximize diffraction quality and minimize non-isomorphism. Overall, this system streamlines the process of heavy-atom compound identification and minimizes the problem of non-isomorphism in phasing. [source] The role of entropy and polarity in intermolecular contacts in protein crystalsACTA CRYSTALLOGRAPHICA SECTION D, Issue 5 2009Marcin Cie The integrity and X-ray diffraction quality of protein crystals depend on the three-dimensional order of relatively weak but reproducible intermolecular contacts. Despite their importance, relatively little attention has been paid to the chemical and physical nature of these contacts, which are often regarded as stochastic and thus not different from randomly selected protein surface patches. Here, logistic regression was used to analyze crystal contacts in a database of 821 unambiguously monomeric proteins with structures determined to 2.5,Å resolution or better. It is shown that the propensity of a surface residue for incorporation into a crystal contact is not a linear function of its solvent-accessible surface area and that amino acids with low exposed surfaces, which are typically small and hydrophobic, have been underestimated with respect to their contact-forming potential by earlier area-based calculations. For any given solvent-exposed surface, small and hydrophobic residues are more likely to be involved in crystal contacts than large and charged amino acids. Side-chain entropy is the single physicochemical property that is most negatively correlated with the involvement of amino acids in crystal contacts. It is also shown that crystal contacts with larger buried surfaces containing eight or more amino acids have cores that are depleted of polar amino acids. [source] Systematic study on crystal-contact engineering of diphthine synthase: influence of mutations at crystal-packing regions on X-ray diffraction qualityACTA CRYSTALLOGRAPHICA SECTION D, Issue 10 2008Hisashi Mizutani It is well known that protein crystallizability can be influenced by site-directed mutagenesis of residues on the molecular surface of proteins, indicating that the intermolecular interactions in crystal-packing regions may play a crucial role in the structural regularity at atomic resolution of protein crystals. Here, a systematic examination was made of the improvement in the diffraction resolution of protein crystals on introducing a single mutation of a crystal-packing residue in order to provide more favourable packing interactions, using diphthine synthase from Pyrococcus horikoshii OT3 as a model system. All of a total of 21 designed mutants at 13 different crystal-packing residues yielded almost isomorphous crystals from the same crystallization conditions as those used for the wild-type crystals, which diffracted X-rays to 2.1,Å resolution. Of the 21 mutants, eight provided crystals with an improved resolution of 1.8,Å or better. Thus, it has been clarified that crystal quality can be improved by introducing a suitable single mutation of a crystal-packing residue. In the improved crystals, more intimate crystal-packing interactions than those in the wild-type crystal are observed. Notably, the mutants K49R and T146R yielded crystals with outstandingly improved resolutions of 1.5 and 1.6,Å, respectively, in which a large-scale rearrangement of packing interactions was unexpectedly observed despite the retention of the same isomorphous crystal form. In contrast, the mutants that provided results that were in good agreement with the designed putative structures tended to achieve only moderate improvements in resolution of up to 1.75,Å. These results suggest a difficulty in the rational prediction of highly effective mutations in crystal engineering. [source] Structure of Escherichia coli tryptophanaseACTA CRYSTALLOGRAPHICA SECTION D, Issue 7 2006Shao-Yang Ku Pyridoxal 5,-phosphate (PLP) dependent tryptophanase has been isolated from Escherichia coli and its crystal structure has been determined. The structure shares the same fold with and has similar quaternary structure to Proteus vulgaris tryptophanase and tyrosine-phenol lyase, but is found in a closed conformation when compared with these two enzymes. The tryptophanase structure, solved in its apo form, does not have covalent PLP bound in the active site, but two sulfate ions. The sulfate ions occupy the phosphoryl-binding site of PLP and the binding site of the ,-carboxyl of the natural substrate tryptophan. One of the sulfate ions makes extensive interactions with both the transferase and PLP-binding domains of the protein and appears to be responsible for holding the enzyme in its closed conformation. Based on the sulfate density and the structure of the P. vulgaris enzyme, PLP and the substrate tryptophan were modeled into the active site. The resulting model is consistent with the roles of Arg419 in orienting the substrate to PLP and acidifying the ,-proton of the substrate for ,-elimination, Lys269 in the formation and decomposition of the PLP quinonoid intermediate, Arg230 in orienting the substrate,PLP intermediates in the optimal conformation for catalysis, and His463 and Tyr74 in determining substrate specificity and suggests that the closed conformation observed in the structure could be induced by substrate binding and that significant conformational changes occur during catalysis. A catalytic mechanism for tryptophanase is proposed. Since E. coli tryptophanase has resisted forming diffraction-quality crystals for many years, the molecular surface of tryptophanase has been analyzed in various crystal forms and it was rationalized that strong crystal contacts occur on the flat surface of the protein and that the size of crystal contact surface seems to correlate with the diffraction quality of the crystal. [source] Post-crystallization treatments for improving diffraction quality of protein crystalsACTA CRYSTALLOGRAPHICA SECTION D, Issue 9 2005Begoña Heras X-ray crystallography is the most powerful method for determining the three-dimensional structure of biological macromolecules. One of the major obstacles in the process is the production of high-quality crystals for structure determination. All too often, crystals are produced that are of poor quality and are unsuitable for diffraction studies. This review provides a compilation of post-crystallization methods that can convert poorly diffracting crystals into data-quality crystals. Protocols for annealing, dehydration, soaking and cross-linking are outlined and examples of some spectacular changes in crystal quality are provided. The protocols are easily incorporated into the structure-determination pipeline and a practical guide is provided that shows how and when to use the different post-crystallization treatments for improving crystal quality. [source] A new method for predetermining the diffraction quality of protein crystals: using SOAP as a selection toolACTA CRYSTALLOGRAPHICA SECTION D, Issue 2 2005Robin Leslie Owen A microscope for quantitative analysis of the birefringence properties of samples is introduced. The microscope is used to measure variations in the slow optical axis position (SOAP) across hen egg-white lysozyme, glucose isomerase and fibronectin crystals. By comparing these variations with indicators of diffraction quality, it is shown that the optical properties of a protein crystal provide a non-invasive method of determining crystal diffraction quality before any X-ray data collection is attempted. [source] A new crystal form of XT6 enables a significant improvement of its diffraction quality and resolutionACTA CRYSTALLOGRAPHICA SECTION D, Issue 3 2004Maya Bar Xylanases (1,4-,- d -xylan xylanhydrolases; EC 3.2.1.8) hydrolyze the 1,4-,- d -xylopyranosyl linkage of xylans. The detailed structural characterization of these enzymes is of interest for the elucidation of their catalytic mechanism and for their rational modification toward improved stability and specificity. An extracellular xylanase from Geobacillus stearothermophilus T-6 (XT6) has recently been cloned, overexpressed, purified and biochemically characterized. Previous crystallographic efforts resulted in a hexagonal crystal form, which subsequently proved to be of limited use for structural analysis, mainly because of its relatively poor diffraction quality and resolution. A systematic search for more suitable crystals of XT6 recently resulted in a new crystal form of this enzyme with significantly improved diffraction characteristics. The new crystals belong to a C -centred monoclinic crystal system (space group C2), with unit-cell parameters a = 121.5, b = 61.7, c = 89.1,Å, , = 119.7°. These crystals diffract X-rays to better than 1.5,Å resolution, showing a very clear diffraction pattern of relatively high quality. The crystals are mechanically strong and exhibit excellent radiation-stability when frozen under cold nitrogen gas. A full diffraction data set to 1.45,Å resolution (94.1% completeness, Rmerge = 7.0%) has been collected from flash-frozen crystals of the native enzyme at 95,K using synchrotron radiation. Crystals of the E159A/E265A catalytic double mutant of XT6 were found to be isomorphous to those of native XT6. They were used for a full measurement of 1.8,Å resolution diffraction data at 100,K (90.9% completeness; Rmerge = 5.0%). These data are currently being used for the high-resolution structure determination of XT6 and its mutant for mechanistic interpretations and rational introduction of thermostability. [source] Crystallization and preliminary diffraction analysis of an engineered cephalosporin acylaseACTA CRYSTALLOGRAPHICA SECTION F (ELECTRONIC), Issue 7 2010Anandhi Anandan Crystallization conditions are reported for an engineered cephalosporin acylase based on the sequence of glutaryl-7-aminocephalosporanic acid acylase from Pseudomonas strain N176. Initial crystals were grown using polyethylene glycol as a crystallizing agent; however, these crystals diffracted poorly and exhibited high mosaicity. A dehydration procedure in which crystals were transferred to a solution containing a higher concentration of polyethylene glycol as well as glycerol improved the diffraction quality such that a 1.57,Å diffraction data set could be obtained. [source] Crystallization and X-ray diffraction studies of inverting trehalose phosphorylase from Thermoanaerobacter sp.ACTA CRYSTALLOGRAPHICA SECTION F (ELECTRONIC), Issue 4 2010Annelies Van Hoorebeke Disaccharide phosphorylases are attractive enzymatic platforms for tailor-made sugar synthesis owing to their ability to catalyze both the synthesis and the breakdown of disaccharides. Trehalose phosphorylase from Thermoanaerobacter sp. (TP) is a glycoside hydrolase family 65 enzyme which catalyzes the reversible breakdown of trehalose [d -glucopyranosyl-,(1,1),- d -glucopyranose] to ,- d -glucose 1-phosphate and d -glucose. Recombinant purified protein was produced in Escherichia coli and crystallized in space group P212121. Crystals of recombinant TP were obtained in their native form and were soaked with glucose, with n -octyl-,- d -glucoside and with trehalose. The crystals presented a number of challenges including an unusually large unit cell, with a c axis measuring 420,Å, and variable diffraction quality. Crystal-dehydration protocols led to improvements in diffraction quality that were often dramatic, typically from 7,8 to 3,4,Å resolution. The structure of recombinant TP was determined by molecular replacement to 2.8,Å resolution, thus establishing a starting point for investigating the structural and mechanistic determinants of the disaccharide phosphorylase activity. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first crystal structure determination of an inverting trehalose phosphorylase. [source] Crystallization and preliminary X-ray crystallographic analysis of ,-galactosidase from Kluyveromyces lactisACTA CRYSTALLOGRAPHICA SECTION F (ELECTRONIC), Issue 3 2010Ángel Pereira-Rodríguez ,-Galactosidase from Kluyveromyces lactis catalyses the hydrolysis of the ,-galactosidic linkage in lactose. Owing to its many industrial applications, the biotechnological potential of this enzyme is substantial. This protein has been expressed in yeast and purified for crystallization trials. However, optimization of the best crystallization conditions yielded crystals with poor diffraction quality that precluded further structural studies. Finally, the crystal quality was improved using the streak-seeding technique and a complete diffraction data set was collected at 2.8,Å resolution. [source] Crystallization and X-ray diffraction studies of cellobiose phosphorylase from Cellulomonas udaACTA CRYSTALLOGRAPHICA SECTION F (ELECTRONIC), Issue 3 2010Annelies Van Hoorebeke Disaccharide phosphorylases are able to catalyze both the synthesis and the breakdown of disaccharides and have thus emerged as attractive platforms for tailor-made sugar synthesis. Cellobiose phosphorylase from Cellulomonas uda (CPCuda) is an enzyme that belongs to glycoside hydrolase family 94 and catalyzes the reversible breakdown of cellobiose [,- d -glucopyranosyl-(1,4)- d -glucopyranose] to ,- d -glucose-1-phosphate and d -glucose. Crystals of ligand-free recombinant CPCuda and of its complexes with substrates and reaction products yielded complete X-ray diffraction data sets to high resolution using synchrotron radiation but suffered from significant variability in diffraction quality. In at least one case an intriguing space-group transition from a primitive monoclinic to a primitive orthorhombic lattice was observed during data collection. The structure of CPCuda was determined by maximum-likelihood molecular replacement, thus establishing a starting point for an investigation of the structural and mechanistic determinants of disaccharide phosphorylase activity. [source] Towards structural studies of the old yellow enzyme homologue SYE4 from Shewanella oneidensis and its complexes at atomic resolutionACTA CRYSTALLOGRAPHICA SECTION F (ELECTRONIC), Issue 1 2010Jonathan Elegheert Shewanella oneidensis is an environmentally versatile Gram-negative ,-proteobacterium that is endowed with an unusually large proteome of redox proteins. Of the four old yellow enzyme (OYE) homologues found in S. oneidensis, SYE4 is the homologue most implicated in resistance to oxidative stress. SYE4 was recombinantly expressed in Escherichia coli, purified and crystallized using the hanging-drop vapour-diffusion method. The crystals belonged to the orthorhombic space group P212121 and were moderately pseudo-merohedrally twinned, emulating a P422 metric symmetry. The native crystals of SYE4 were of exceptional diffraction quality and provided complete data to 1.10,Å resolution using synchrotron radiation, while crystals of the reduced enzyme and of the enzyme in complex with a wide range of ligands typically led to high-quality complete data sets to 1.30,1.60,Å resolution, thus providing a rare opportunity to dissect the structure,function relationships of a good-sized enzyme (40,kDa) at true atomic resolution. Here, the attainment of a number of experimental milestones in the crystallographic studies of SYE4 and its complexes are reported, including isolation of the elusive hydride,Meisenheimer complex. [source] Expression, purification and preliminary X-ray analysis of the Neisseria meningitidis outer membrane protein PorBACTA CRYSTALLOGRAPHICA SECTION F (ELECTRONIC), Issue 10 2009Mikio Tanabe The Neisseria meningitidis outer membrane protein PorB was expressed in Escherichia coli and purified from inclusion bodies by denaturation in urea followed by refolding in buffered LDAO on a size-exclusion column. PorB has been crystallized in three different crystal forms: C222, R32 and P63. The C222 crystal form may contain either one or two PorB monomers in the asymmetric unit, while both the R32 and P63 crystal forms contained one PorB monomer in the asymmetric unit. Of the three, the P63 crystal form had the best diffraction quality, yielding data extending to 2.3,Å resolution. [source] Crystallization, diffraction data collection and preliminary crystallographic analysis of DING protein from Pseudomonas fluorescensACTA CRYSTALLOGRAPHICA SECTION F (ELECTRONIC), Issue 7 2007Sebastien Moniot PfluDING is a phosphate-binding protein expressed in Pseudomonas fluorescens. This protein is clearly distinct from the bacterial ABC transporter soluble phosphate-binding protein PstS and is more homologous to eukaryotic DING proteins. Interestingly, bacterial DING proteins have only been detected in certain Pseudomonas species. Although DING proteins seem to be ubiquitous in eukaryotes, they are systematically absent from eukaryotic genomic databases and thus are still quite mysterious and poorly characterized. PfluDING displays mitogenic activity towards human cells and binds various ligands such as inorganic phosphate, pyrophosphate, nucleotide triphosphates and cotinine. Here, the crystallization of PfluDING is reported in a monoclinic space group (P21), with typical unit-cell parameters a = 36.7, b = 123.7, c = 40.8,Å, , = 90, , = 116.7, , = 90°. Preliminary crystallographic analysis reveals good diffraction quality for these crystals and a 1.43,Å resolution data set has been collected. [source] | ||||||||||