Ultra-high-resolution X-ray structure of proteins.

The constant advances in synchrotron radiation sources and crystallogenesis methods and the impulse of structural genomics projects have brought biocrystallography to a context favorable to subatomic resolution protein and nucleic acid structures. Thus, as soon as such precision can be frequently obtained, the amount of information available in the precise electron density should also be easily and naturally exploited, similarly to the field of small molecule charge density studies. Indeed, the use of a nonspherical model for the atomic electron density in the refinement of subatomic resolution protein structures allows the experimental description of their electrostatic properties. Some methods we have developed and implemented in our multipolar refinement program MoPro for this purpose are presented. Examples of successful applications to several subatomic resolution protein structures, including the 0.66 angstrom resolution human aldose reductase, are described.

Electron density and electrostatic properties of two peptide molecules: tyrosyl-glycyl-glycine monohydrate and glycyl-aspartic acid dihydrate.

The electron density and electrostatic properties of Tyr-Gly-Gly and Gly-Asp molecules have been determined from high-resolution X-ray diffraction data at 123 K. Topological properties of the charge distribution are discussed and compared with those derived from other experimental studies on peptide molecules, and the characteristics of the (3,-1) critical points of the C=O, C-N, C-C bonds are analysed. Crystal data for Tyr-Gly-Gly: C13H17N3O5.H2O, Mr = 313, orthorhombic, P2(1)2(1)2(1), Z = 4, T = 123 +/- 2 K; lattice parameters: a = 7.984 (2), b = 9.535 (3), c = 18.352 (5) A, V= 1397.1 (6) A3, Dx = 1.49 g cm(-3), mu = 1.2 cm(-1) for lambdaMo = 0.7107 A. Crystal data for Gly-Asp: C6H10N2O5.2H2O, Mr = 212, orthorhombic, P2(1)2(1)2(1), Z = 4, T = 123 +/- 2 K; lattice parameters: a = 9.659 (1), b = 9.672 (1), c = 10.739 (1) A, V= 1003.3 (4) A3, Dx = 1.40 g cm(-3), mu = 1.3 cm(-1) for lambda(Mo)= 0.7107 A.

Experimental charge density and electrostatic potential of glycyl-L-threonine dihydrate.

The experimental electron density distribution in glycyl-L-threonine dihydrate has been investigated using single-crystal X-ray diffraction data at 110 K to a resolution of (sin theta/lambda) = 1.2 A(-1). Multipolar pseudo-atom refinement was carried out against 5417 observed data and the molecular electron density was analyzed using topological methods. The experimental electrostatic potential around the molecule is discussed in terms of molecular interactions. Crystal data: C6H12N2O4. 2H2O, Mr = 212.2, orthorhombic, P2(1)2(1)2(1), Z = 4, F(000) = 456 e, T = 110 K, a = 9.572 (3), b = 10.039 (3), c = 10.548 (2) A, V = 1013.6 (4) A3, Dx = 1.3 g cm(-3), mu = 1.2 cm(-1) for lambdaMo = 0.7107 A.

Accurate protein crystallography at ultra-high resolution: valence electron distribution in crambin.

The charge density distribution of a protein has been refined experimentally. Diffraction data for a crambin crystal were measured to ultra-high resolution (0.54 A) at low temperature by using short-wavelength synchrotron radiation. The crystal structure was refined with a model for charged, nonspherical, multipolar atoms to accurately describe the molecular electron density distribution. The refined parameters agree within 25% with our transferable electron density library derived from accurate single crystal diffraction analyses of several amino acids and small peptides. The resulting electron density maps of redistributed valence electrons (deformation maps) compare quantitatively well with a high-level quantum mechanical calculation performed on a monopeptide. This study provides validation for experimentally derived parameters and a window into charge density analysis of biological macromolecules.

Towards the charge-density study of proteins: a room-temperature scorpion-toxin structure at 0.96 A resolution as a first test case.

The number of protein structures refined at a resolution higher than 1.0 A is continuously increasing. Subatomic structures may deserve a more sophisticated model than the spherical atomic electron density. In very high resolution structural studies (d < 0.5 A) of small peptides, a multipolar atom model is used to describe the valence electron density. This allows a much more accurate determination of the anisotropic thermal displacement parameters and the estimate of atomic charges. This information is of paramount importance in the understanding of biological processes involving enzymes and metalloproteins. The structure of the scorpion Androctonus australis Hector toxin II has been refined at 0.96 A resolution using synchrotron diffraction data collected at room temperature. Refinement with a multipolar electron-density model in which the multipole populations are transferred from previous peptide studies led to the observation of valence electrons on covalent bonds of the most ordered residues. The refined net charges of the peptide-bond atoms were of the correct sign but were underestimated. Such protein-structure refinements against higher resolution data collected at cryogenic temperature will enable the calculation of experimental atomic charges and properties such as electrostatic potentials.

Transferability of multipole charge-density parameters: application to very high resolution oligopeptide and protein structures.

Crystallography at sub-atomic resolution permits the observation and measurement of the non-spherical character of the electron density (parameterized as multipoles) and of the atomic charges. This fine description of the electron density can be extended to structures of lower resolution by applying the notion of transferability of the charge and multipole parameters. A database of such parameters has been built from charge-density analysis of several peptide crystals. The aim of this study is to assess for which X-ray structures the application of transferability is physically meaningful. The charge-density multipole parameters have been transferred and the X-ray structure of a 310 helix octapeptide Ac-Aib2-L-Lys(Bz)-Aib2-L-Lys(Bz)-Aib2-NHMe refined subsequently, for which diffraction data have been collected to a resolution of 0.82 A at a cryogenic temperature of 100 K. The multipoles transfer resulted in a significant improvement of the crystallographic residual factors wR and wR free. The accumulation of electrons in the covalent bonds and oxygen lone pairs is clearly visible in the deformation electron-density maps at its expected value. The refinement of the charges for nine different atom types led to an additional improvement of the R factor and the refined charges are in good agreement with those of the AMBER molecular modelling dictionary. The use of scattering factors calculated from average results of charge-density work gives a negligible shift of the atomic coordinates in the octapeptide but induces a significant change in the temperature factors (DeltaB approximately 0.4 A2). Under the spherical atom approximation, the temperature factors are biased as they partly model the deformation electron density. The transfer of the multipoles thus improves the physical meaning of the thermal-displacement parameters. The contribution to the diffraction of the different components of the electron density has also been analyzed. This analysis indicates that the electron-density peaks are well defined in the dynamic deformation maps when the thermal motion of the atoms is moderate (B typically lower than 4 A2). In this case, a non-truncated Fourier synthesis of the deformation density requires that the diffraction data are available to a resolution better than 0.9 A.