Molecular dynamics of hydrogen bonds in bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor protein

Anticodon-binding domain swapping in a nondiscriminating aspartyl-tRNA synthetase reveals contributions to tRNA specificity and catalytic activity

The nondiscriminating aspartyl-tRNA synthetase (ND-AspRS), found in many archaea and bacteria, covalently attaches aspartic acid to tRNA^Asp and tRNA^Asn generating a correctly charged Asp-tRNA^Asp and an erroneous Asp-tRNA^Asn . This relaxed tRNA specificity is governed by interactions between the tRNA and the enzyme. In an effort to assess the contributions of the anticodon-binding domain to tRNA specificity, we constructed two chimeric enzymes, Chimera-D and Chimera-N, by replacing the native anticodon-binding domain in the Helicobacter pylori ND-AspRS with that of a discriminating AspRS (Chimera-D) and an asparaginyl-tRNA synthetase (AsnRS, Chimera-N), both from Escherichia coli. Both chimeric enzymes showed similar secondary structure compared to wild-type (WT) ND-AspRS and maintained the ability to form dimeric complexes in solution. Although less catalytically active than WT, Chimera-D was more discriminating as it aspartylated tRNA^Asp over tRNA^Asn with a specificity ratio of 7.0 compared to 2.9 for the WT enzyme. In contrast, Chimera-N exhibited low catalytic activity toward tRNA^Asp and was unable to aspartylate tRNA^Asn . The observed catalytic activities for the two chimeras correlate with their heterologous toxicity when expressed in E. coli. Molecular dynamics simulations show a reduced hydrogen bond network at the interface between the anticodon-binding domain and the catalytic domain in Chimera-N compared to Chimera-D or WT, explaining its lower stability and catalytic activity.

Prediction of Molecular Interaction between Platelet Glycoprotein Ibα and von Willebrand Factor using Molecular Dynamics Simulations

AIM

The molecular mechanism of the unique interaction between platelet membrane glycoprotein Ibα (GPIbα) and von Willebrand Factor (VWF), necessary for platelet adhesion under high shear stress, is yet to be clarified.

METHODS

The molecular dynamics simulation using NAMD (Nanoscale Molecular Dynamics) package with the CHARMM 22 (Chemistry at Harvard Macromolecular Mechanics) force field were used to predict dynamic structural changes occurring in the binding site of A1 domain of VWF and N terminus domain of GPIbα under water soluble condition.

RESULTS

The mean distance between the mass center of A1 domain of VWF and GPIbα in the stable form was predicted as 27.3 Å. The potential of mean force between the A1 domain of VWF and GPIbα were calculated in conditions of various distances of the mass center between them. All the calculated values were fitted to the Morse potential energy function curve. The maximum adhesive force between A1 domain of VWF and GPIbα was predicted as 62.3 pN by differentiating the potential of mean force with respect to the molecular distance.

CONCLUSIONS

The molecular dynamics simulation is useful for predicting the dynamic structure changes of protein bonds involved in platelet adhesion and for predicting the adhesive forces generated between their interactions.

How amide hydrogens exchange in native proteins

Amide hydrogen exchange (HX) is widely used in protein biophysics even though our ignorance about the HX mechanism makes data interpretation imprecise. Notably, the open exchange-competent conformational state has not been identified. Based on analysis of an ultralong molecular dynamics trajectory of the protein BPTI, we propose that the open (O) states for amides that exchange by subglobal fluctuations are locally distorted conformations with two water molecules directly coordinated to the N-H group. The HX protection factors computed from the relative O-state populations agree well with experiment. The O states of different amides show little or no temporal correlation, even if adjacent residues unfold cooperatively. The mean residence time of the O state is ∼100 ps for all examined amides, so the large variation in measured HX rate must be attributed to the opening frequency. A few amides gain solvent access via tunnels or pores penetrated by water chains including native internal water molecules, but most amides access solvent by more local structural distortions. In either case, we argue that an overcoordinated N-H group is necessary for efficient proton transfer by Grotthuss-type structural diffusion.

Vibrational entropy differences between mesophile and thermophile proteins and their use in protein engineering

We recently introduced ENCoM, an elastic network atomic contact model, as the first coarse-grained normal mode analysis method that accounts for the nature of amino acids and can predict the effect of mutations on thermostability based on changes vibrational entropy. In this proof-of-concept article, we use pairs of mesophile and thermophile homolog proteins with identical structures to determine if a measure of vibrational entropy based on normal mode analysis can discriminate thermophile from mesophile proteins. We observe that in around 60% of cases, thermophile proteins are more rigid at equivalent temperatures than their mesophile counterpart and this difference can guide the design of proteins to increase their thermostability through series of mutations. We observe that mutations separating thermophile proteins from their mesophile orthologs contribute independently to a decrease in vibrational entropy and discuss the application and implications of this methodology to protein engineering.

Global motions exhibited by proteins in micro- to milliseconds simulations concur with anisotropic network model predictions

The Anton supercomputing technology recently developed for efficient molecular dynamics simulations permits us to examine micro- to milli-second events at full atomic resolution for proteins in explicit water and lipid bilayer. It also permits us to investigate to what extent the collective motions predicted by network models (that have found broad use in molecular biophysics) agree with those exhibited by full-atomic long simulations. The present study focuses on Anton trajectories generated for two systems: the bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor, and an archaeal aspartate transporter, GltPh. The former, a thoroughly studied system, helps benchmark the method of comparative analysis, and the latter provides new insights into the mechanism of function of glutamate transporters. The principal modes of motion derived from both simulations closely overlap with those predicted for each system by the anisotropic network model (ANM). Notably, the ANM modes define the collective mechanisms, or the pathways on conformational energy landscape, that underlie the passage between the crystal structure and substates visited in simulations. In particular, the lowest frequency ANM modes facilitate the conversion between the most probable substates, lending support to the view that easy access to functional substates is a robust determinant of evolutionarily selected native contact topology.

A coarse-grained elastic network atom contact model and its use in the simulation of protein dynamics and the prediction of the effect of mutations

Normal mode analysis (NMA) methods are widely used to study dynamic aspects of protein structures. Two critical components of NMA methods are coarse-graining in the level of simplification used to represent protein structures and the choice of potential energy functional form. There is a trade-off between speed and accuracy in different choices. In one extreme one finds accurate but slow molecular-dynamics based methods with all-atom representations and detailed atom potentials. On the other extreme, fast elastic network model (ENM) methods with Cα-only representations and simplified potentials that based on geometry alone, thus oblivious to protein sequence. Here we present ENCoM, an Elastic Network Contact Model that employs a potential energy function that includes a pairwise atom-type non-bonded interaction term and thus makes it possible to consider the effect of the specific nature of amino-acids on dynamics within the context of NMA. ENCoM is as fast as existing ENM methods and outperforms such methods in the generation of conformational ensembles. Here we introduce a new application for NMA methods with the use of ENCoM in the prediction of the effect of mutations on protein stability. While existing methods are based on machine learning or enthalpic considerations, the use of ENCoM, based on vibrational normal modes, is based on entropic considerations. This represents a novel area of application for NMA methods and a novel approach for the prediction of the effect of mutations. We compare ENCoM to a large number of methods in terms of accuracy and self-consistency. We show that the accuracy of ENCoM is comparable to that of the best existing methods. We show that existing methods are biased towards the prediction of destabilizing mutations and that ENCoM is less biased at predicting stabilizing mutations.

Learning probabilistic models of hydrogen bond stability from molecular dynamics simulation trajectories

Background

Hydrogen bonds (H-bonds) play a key role in both the formation and stabilization of protein structures. They form and break while a protein deforms, for instance during the transition from a non-functional to a functional state. The intrinsic strength of an individual H-bond has been studied from an energetic viewpoint, but energy alone may not be a very good predictor.

Methods

This paper describes inductive learning methods to train protein-independent probabilistic models of H-bond stability from molecular dynamics (MD) simulation trajectories of various proteins. The training data contains 32 input attributes (predictors) that describe an H-bond and its local environment in a conformation c and the output attribute is the probability that the H-bond will be present in an arbitrary conformation of this protein achievable from c within a time duration Δ. We model dependence of the output variable on the predictors by a regression tree.

Results

Several models are built using 6 MD simulation trajectories containing over 4000 distinct H-bonds (millions of occurrences). Experimental results demonstrate that such models can predict H-bond stability quite well. They perform roughly 20% better than models based on H-bond energy alone. In addition, they can accurately identify a large fraction of the least stable H-bonds in a conformation. In most tests, about 80% of the 10% H-bonds predicted as the least stable are actually among the 10% truly least stable. The important attributes identified during the tree construction are consistent with previous findings.

Conclusions

We use inductive learning methods to build protein-independent probabilistic models to study H-bond stability, and demonstrate that the models perform better than H-bond energy alone.

Ligand binding to proteins: the binding landscape model

Models of ligand binding are often based on four assumptions: (1) steric fit: that binding is determined mainly by shape complementarity; (2) native binding: that ligands mainly bind to native states; (3) locality: that ligands perturb protein structures mainly at the binding site; and (4) continuity: that small changes in ligand or protein structure lead to small changes in binding affinity. Using a generalization of the 2D HP lattice model, we study ligand binding and explore these assumptions. We first validate the model by showing that it reproduces typical binding behaviors. We observe ligand-induced denaturation, ANS and heme-like binding, and "lock-and-key" and "induced-fit" specific binding behaviors characterized by Michaelis-Menten or more cooperative types of binding isotherms. We then explore cases where the model predicts violations of the standard assumptions. For example, very different binding modes can result from two ligands of identical shape. Ligands can sometimes bind highly denatured states more tightly than native states and yet have Michaelis-Menten isotherms. Even low-population binding to denatured states can cause changes in global stability, hydrogen-exchange rates, and thermal B-factors, contrary to expectations, but in agreement with experiments. We conclude that ligand binding, similar to protein folding, may be better described in terms of energy landscapes than in terms of simpler mass-action models.

A statistical mechanical model for hydrogen exchange in globular proteins

We develop a statistical mechanical theory for the mechanism of hydrogen exchange in globular proteins. Using the HP lattice model, we explore how the solvent accessibilities of chain monomers vary as proteins fluctuate from their stable native conformations. The model explains why hydrogen exchange appears to involve two mechanisms under different conditions of protein stability: (1) a "global unfolding" mechanism by which all protons exchange at a similar rate, approaching that of the denatured protein, and (2) a "stable-state" mechanism by which protons exchange at rates that can differ by many orders of magnitude. There has been some controversy about the stable-state mechanism: does exchange take place inside the protein by solvent penetration, or outside the protein by the local unfolding of a subregion? The present model indicates that the stable-state mechanism of exchange occurs through an ensemble of conformations, some of which may bear very little resemblance to the native structure. Although most fluctuations are small-amplitude motions involving solvent penetration or local unfolding, other fluctuations (the conformational distant relatives) can involve much larger transient excursions to completely different chain folds.

Structural characterization by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy of a genetically engineered high-affinity calmodulin-binding peptide derived from Bordetella pertussis adenylate cyclase

This paper reports the solution conformation of a peptide (P196-267) derived from the calmodulin-binding domain of Bordetella pertussis adenylate cyclase. P196-267 corresponding to the protein fragment situated between amino acid residues 196-267 was overproduced by a recombinant Escherichia coli strain. Its affinity for calmodulin is only one order of magnitude lower (Kd = 2.4 nM) than that of the whole bacterial enzyme (Kd = 0.2 nM). The proton resonances of the NMR spectra of P196-267 were assigned using homonuclear two-dimensional techniques (double-quantum-filtered J-correlated spectroscopy, total correlation spectroscopy, and nuclear Overhauser enhancement spectroscopy) and a standard assignment procedure. Analysis of the nuclear Overhauser effect connectivities and the secondary shift distribution of C alpha protons along the sequence allowed us to identify the elements of regular secondary structure. The peptide is flexible in solution, being in equilibrium between random coil and helical structures. Two segments of 11 amino acids (situated between V215 and A225) and 15 amino acids (situated between L233 and A247) populate in a significant proportion the helix conformational state. The two helices can be considerably stabilized in a mixed solvent, trifluoroethanol/water (30/70), suggesting that the corresponding fragment in the intact protein assumes a similar secondary conformation. No elements of tertiary structure organization were detected by the present experiments. The conformational properties of the isolated calmodulin target fragment are discussed in relation with the available NMR and X-ray data on various peptides complexed to calmodulin.

Molecular dynamics simulations of oxidized and reduced Clostridium beijerinckii flavodoxin

Molecular dynamics simulations of oxidized and reduced Clostridium beijerinckii flavodoxin in water have been performed in a sphere of 1.4-nm radius surrounded by a restrained shell of 0.8 nm. The flavin binding site, comprising the active site of the flavodoxin, was in the center of the sphere. No explicit information about protein-bound water molecules was included. An analysis is made of the motional characteristics of residues located in the active site. Positional fluctuations, hydrogen bonding patterns, dihedral angle transitions, solvent behavior, and time-dependent correlations are examined. The 375-ps trajectories show that both oxidized and reduced protein-bound flavins are immobilized within the protein matrix, in agreement with earlier obtained time-resolved fluorescence anisotropy data. The calculated time-correlated behavior of the tryptophan residues reveals significant picosecond mobility of the tryptophan side chain located close to the reduced isoalloxazine part of the flavin.

Nuclear magnetic resonance studies of the internal dynamics in Apo, (Cd2+)1 and (Ca2+)2 calbindin D9k. The rates of amide proton exchange with solvent

The backbone dynamics of the EF-hand Ca(2+)-binding protein, calbindin D9k, has been investigated in the apo, (Cd2+)1 and (Ca2+)2 states by measuring the rate constants for amide proton exchange with solvent. 15N-1H correlation spectroscopy was utilized to follow direct 1H-->2H exchange of the slowly exchanging amide protons and to follow indirect proton exchange via saturation transfer from water to the rapidly exchanging amide protons. Plots of experimental rate constants versus intrinsic rate constants have been analyzed to give qualitative insight into the opening modes of the protein that lead to exchange. These results have been interpreted within the context of a progressive unfolding model, wherein hydrophobic interactions and metal chelation serve to anchor portions of the protein, thereby damping fluctuations and retarding amide proton exchange. The addition of Ca2+ or Cd2+ was found to retard the exchange of many amide protons observed to be in hydrogen-bonding environments in the crystal structure of the (Ca2+)2 state, but not of those amide protons that were not involved in hydrogen bonds. The largest changes in rate constant occur for residues in the ion-binding loops, with substantial effects also found for the adjacent residues in helices I, II and III, but not helix IV. The results are consistent with a reorganization of the hydrogen-bonding networks in the metal ion-binding loops, accompanied by a change in the conformation of helix IV, as metal ions are chelated. Further analysis of the results obtained for the three states of metal occupancy provides insight into the nature of the changes in conformational fluctuations induced by ion binding.

Crystal structure of a Y35G mutant of bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor

The structure of a Y35G mutant of bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor (BPTI) was solved by molecular replacement and was refined by both simulated annealing and restrained least-squares at 1.8 A resolution. The crystals belong to the space group P42212, with unit cell dimensions a = b = 46.75 A, c = 50.61 A. The final R-factor is 0.159 and the deviation from ideality for bond distances is 0.02 A. The structure of the mutant differs from that of the native protein, showing an overall root-mean-square (r.m.s.) difference of 1.86 A for main-chain atoms. However, the change is mostly localized in the two loops (respective r.m.s. values of 2.04 A and 3.93 A) and the C terminus (r.m.s. 6.79 A), while the core of the protein is well conserved (r.m.s. 0.45 A). The change in the loop regions can be clearly attributed to the mutation while the difference in the C terminus might be only due to a different crystal packing. Seventy water molecules were included in the model but only seven of them are shared with the native structure. Thermal parameters are showing a good correlation with those for the wild-type of BPTI.

Correlation between calculated local stability and hydrogen exchange rates in proteins

The attempt is made to find new correlations between local structural characteristics of proteins and the hydrogen exchange rates of their individual main-chain amides, and to relate such correlations to possible mechanisms of hydrogen exchange. It is found that in bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor (BPTI) the surface area buried by a particular residue and its neighbors correlates with the exchange rate of the main-chain amide of that residue. As the area buried by a particular fragment can be associated with the stabilization of the protein structure by this fragment, the correlation suggests a role for the energetics of the local unfolding in the mechanism of hydrogen exchange. Calculations based on the assumption that the exchange mechanism involves local unfolding lead to quantitative agreement between the calculated and experimentally measured exchange rates for 80% of the amides of BPTI that are buried or hydrogen bonded to the main-chain or to internal water molecules. The same degree of correlation is found between the calculated exchange rates and partial exchange data for ribonuclease S, hen lysozyme and cytochrome c. A similarly strong correlation is found between calculated exchange rates and the exchange rates of ribonuclease A determined by neutron diffraction in the crystal. The criteria of correlation are, however, less stringent in this case because of the experimental errors, which are larger than for solution data. It is suggested that the observed correlation be used for predictions of hydrogen exchange rates in proteins.

Comparison of two highly refined structures of bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor

The high resolution structures of bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor refined in two distinct crystal forms have been compared. One of the structures was a result of new least-squares X-ray refinement of data from crystal form I, while the other was the joint X-ray/neutron structure of crystal form II. After superposition, the molecules show an overall root-mean-squares deviation of 0.40 A for the atoms in the main chain, while the deviations for the side-chain atoms are 1.53 A. The latter number decreases to 0.61 A when those side-chains that adopted drastically different conformations are excluded from comparison. The discrepancy between atomic temperature factors in the two models was 6.7 A2, while their general trends are highly correlated. About half of the solvent molecules occupy similar positions in the two models, while the others are different. As expected, solvents with the lowest temperature factors are most likely to be common in the two crystal forms. While the two models are clearly similar, the differences are significantly larger than the errors inherent in the structure determination.

Monte Carlo simulation of myoglobin primary to helical structure

A Monte Carlo simulation is presented of the formation of the individual helices of myoglobin from their primary to their helical structures. A simplified model in which each amino acid residue is replaced by a single interaction center is used. The small helices formed are in good agreement with experiment, while the larger helices are moderately well reproduced.

Structure of bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor. Results of joint neutron and X-ray refinement of crystal form II

The structure of form II crystals of bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor has been investigated by joint refinement of X-ray and neutron data. Crystallographic R factors for the final model were 0.200 for the X-ray data extending to 1 A resolution and 0.197 for the 1.8 A neutron data. This model was strongly restrained, with 0.020 A root-mean-square (r.m.s.) departure of bond lengths from their ideal values and 0.019 A r.m.s. departure of planar groups from planarity. The resulting structure was very similar to that of crystal form I (r.m.s. deviation for main chain atoms was 0.40 A); nevertheless larger deviations were observed in particular regions of the chain. Twenty out of 63 ordered water molecules occupy similar positions (deviation less than 1 A) in both models. Eleven amide hydrogens were found to be protected from exchange after three months of soaking the crystals in deuterated mother liquor at pH 8.2. Their locations were in excellent agreement with the results obtained by two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance, but the rates of exchange are much lower in the crystalline state.

Dynamics of enzymatic reactions

The detailed molecular dynamics of an actual bond-breaking event in a fluctuating enzyme substrate complex is simulated. The method developed allows one to explore what type of fluctuations are involved in enzymatic reactions and to evaluate entropic contributions to enzyme catalysis. The fluctuations of the enzyme electrostatic potential are found to be a key dynamical factor in reactions that involve a large change in the polarity of the reacting bonds.

Protein folding by restrained energy minimization and molecular dynamics

Native-like folded conformations of bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor protein are calculated by searching for conformations with the lowest possible potential energy. Twenty-five random starting structures are subjected to soft-atom restrained energy minimization with respect to both the torsion angles and the atomic Cartesian co-ordinates. The restraints used to limit the search include the three disulphide bridges and the 16 main-chain hydrogen bonds that define the native secondary structure. The potential energy functions used are detailed and include terms that allow bond stretching, bond angle bending, bond twisting, van der Waals' forces and hydrogen bonds. Novel features of the methods used include soft-atoms to make restrained energy minimization work, writhing numbers to classify chain threadings, and molecular dynamics followed by energy minimization to anneal the conformations and reduce their energies further. Conformations are analysed using writhing numbers, torsion angle distributions, hydrogen bonds and accessible surface areas. The resulting conformations are very diverse in their chain threadings, energies and root-mean-square deviations from the X-ray structure. There is a relationship between the root-mean-square deviation and the energy, in that the lowest energy conformations are also closest to the X-ray structure. The best conformation calculated here has a root-mean-square deviation of only 3 A and shows the same special threading found in the X-ray structure. The methods introduced here have wide ranging applications; they can be used to build models of protein conformations that have low energy values and obey a wide variety of restraints.

Harmonic dynamics of proteins: normal modes and fluctuations in bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor

A normal mode analysis making use of an empirical potential function including local and nonlocal (nonbonded) interactions is performed for the bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor in the full conformational space of the molecule (1,740 degrees of freedom); that is, all bond lengths and angles, as well as dihedral angles, are included for the 580-atom system consisting of all heavy atoms and polar hydrogens. The heavy-atom frequency spectrum shows a dense distribution between 3 and 1,800 cm-1, with 350 modes below 216 cm-1. Most of the low-frequency modes, of which many have significant anharmonic character, are found to be delocalized over the protein. The root-mean-square amplitudes of the atomic fluctuations are calculated at 300 K from the normal modes and compared with those obtained from a solution molecular dynamics simulation based on the same potential function; very good agreement is obtained for the variation in the main-chain fluctuations as a function of residue number, though larger differences occur for the side chains. The fluctuations are generally, though not always, dominated by frequencies below 30 cm-1, in accord with the results of the dynamics simulation. The vibrational contributions to the thermodynamic properties of the protein are calculated as a function of temperature; the effects of perturbations on the spectrum, suggested for ligand or substrate binding, are examined. The analysis demonstrates that, in spite of the anharmonic contributions to the potential, a normal mode description can provide useful results concerning the internal motions of proteins.

Hydrogen exchange and structural dynamics of proteins and nucleic acids

Though the structures presented in crystallographic models of macromolecules appear to possess rock-like solidity, real proteins and nucleic acids are not particularly rigid. Most structural work to date has centred upon the native state of macromolecules, the most probable macromolecular form. But the native state of a molecule is merely its most abundant form, certainly not its only form. Thermodynamics requires that all other possible structural forms, however improbable, must also exist, albeit with representation corresponding to the factor exp( —Gi/RT) for each state of free energyGi(see Moelwyn-Hughes, 1961), and one appreciates that each molecule within a population of molecules will in time explore the vast ensemble ofpossiblestructural states.

Molecular dynamics of native protein. II. Analysis and nature of motion

The 132 picosecond simulation of atomic motion in bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor protein generated in the accompanying paper is analysed here using a variety of different methods. Together, these techniques, many of which have been used before in analyses of protein co-ordinate refinement, give a complete and comprehensible description of the trajectory. Some highlights of the simulation are as follows. (1) The atoms vibrate about a time-averaged conformation that is close to the X-ray structure (within 1.1 A root-mean-square deviation for the main-chain of all residues except the first and last two). The vibration amplitude is least for main-chain atoms in alpha-helix or beta-sheet secondary structure and most for side-chain atoms in the charged polar side-chains (Asp, Glu, Lys and Arg). The overall extent and distribution of atomic motion is in agreement with the temperature factors derived from the X-ray refinement: the reorientation of bond vectors is much less than observed by nuclear magnetic resonance. (2) The protein explores four distinct regions of conformational space in the 132 picoseconds simulated. The conformational change from region III to IV and back again lasts 40 picoseconds and is of particular interest as it is reversible and involves an increase in the hydrogen bond energy. (3) The changes in main-chain torsion angles show the expected cooperativity of phi i + 1 and psi i; side-chains that are close in space also change their conformational angles in unison. (4) Hydrogen bonds are variable and many break and reform again in the 132 picoseconds. Certain hydrogen bonds are much less stable than others; with particular variability seen in the alpha-helices and at the ends of the beta-hairpin. Most noticeable are the co-operative changes of hydrogen bonds at both ends of the beta-hairpin that occur in going from region III to IV of the conformational space. (5) The overall solvent-accessible area remains close to that of the X-ray structure but polar charged residues become less exposed while non-polar hydrophobic residues become more exposed. Together these results give a conceptual model for protein dynamics in which the molecule vibrates about a particular conformation but then suddenly changes conformation, jumping over an energy barrier into a new region of conformational space.

Pancreatic trypsin inhibitor. A new crystal form and its analysis

Basic pancreatic trypsin inhibitor (Trasylol) was crystallized in a new crystal form with space group P212121 and lattice constants a = 74.1 A, b = 23.4 A, c = 28.9 A. Its structure was determined at 0.94 A resolution applying Patterson search techniques.

Computer simulation of the dynamics of hydrated protein crystals and its comparison with x-ray data

The structure and dynamics of the full unit cell of a protein (bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor) containing 4 protein molecules and 560 water molecules have been simulated by using the molecular dynamics method. The obtained structure, atom positional fluctuations, and structure factors are compared with x-ray values. A way of calculating the motional contributions to structure factors is proposed.

Characterization of the distribution of internal motions in the basic pancreatic trypsin inhibitor using a large number of internal NMR probes

The experimental observations described in this article indicated that a distribution of many different fluctuations is present in a globular protein. These fluctuations were characterized by observation of many natural internal probes such as the labile peptide protons and the aromatic side chains. The conditions which are necessary to get reactions of the internal probes have been discussed in detail. The structural interpretation of the data was facilitated by the development and the use of new NMR techniques which provided the identification of the resonances of all the labile peptide protons. With NOE measurements a distinction between correlated and uncorrelated exchange events was obtained. This enabled us to elucidate the exchange mechanism over a wide range of p2H and temperature and to classify different subsets of fluctuations with respect to their lifetimes. It was further demonstrated that a change of external conditions such as temperature, p2H or pressure can change the distribution of fluctuations in the protein. The mechanisms responsible for rotation of internal aromatic side chains were also found to change with temperature, and mechanistic aspects of these fluctuations were discussed. This demonstration of a manifold of spatial fluctuations in a small protein provides an impression on the kind of fluctuations which have to be expected for larger proteins. When studying protein reactions one should therefore consider the presence of a large number of different, transiently formed, spatial structures available for the partner in the reaction, which may pick out only that structure which will optimally perform a particular reaction with the highest efficiency.

Hydrogen exchange and the dynamic structure of proteins

In native proteins, buried, labile protons undergo isotope exchange with solvent hydrogens, but the kinetics of exchange are markedly slower than in unfolded polypeptides. This indicates that, whereas buried protein atoms are shielded from solvent, the protein fluctuates around the time average structure and occasionally exposes buried sites to solvent. Generally, hydrogen exchange studies are designed to characterize the nature of the fluctuations between conformational substates, to monitor the shift in conformational equilibria among protein substates due to ligand binding or other factors, or to monitor the major cooperative denaturation transition. In this article, we review the recent reports of hydrogen exchange in proteins, focusing on recent advances in methodology, especially with regard to the implications of the results for the mechanism of hydrogen exchange in folded proteins.