An automated data processing and analysis pipeline for transmembrane proteins in detergent solutions

Developments in small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) for characterizing the structure of surfactant-macromolecule interactions and their complex

The surfactant-macromolecule interactions (SMI) are one of the most critical topics for scientific research and industrial application. Small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) is a powerful tool for comprehensively studying the structural and conformational features of macromolecules at a size ranging from Angstroms to hundreds of nanometers with a time-resolve in milliseconds scale. The SAXS integrative techniques have emerged for comprehensively analyzing the SMI and the structure of their complex in solution. Here, the various types of emerging interactions of surfactant with macromolecules, such as protein, lipid, nuclear acid, polysaccharide and virus, etc. have been systematically reviewed. Additionally, the principle of SAXS and theoretical models of SAXS for describing the structure of SMI as well as their complex has been summarized. Moreover, the recent developments in the applications of SAXS for charactering the structure of SMI have been also highlighted. Prospectively, the capacity to complement artificial intelligence (AI) in the structure prediction of biological macromolecules and the high-throughput bioinformatics sequencing data make SAXS integrative structural techniques expected to be the primary methodology for illuminating the self-assembling dynamics and nanoscale structure of SMI. As advances in the field continue, we look forward to proliferating uses of SAXS based upon its abilities to robustly produce mechanistic insights for biology and medicine.

Structural, Thermodynamic and Enzymatic Characterization of N,N-Diacetylchitobiose Deacetylase from Pyrococcus chitonophagus

Chitin is a major source of energy and macroelements for many organisms. An important step in its degradation is the deacetylation of chitin or its fragments. Deacetylase from the extremophile Pyrococcus chitonophagus has been analyzed by X-ray crystallography, small-angle X-ray scattering, differential scanning calorimetry, isothermal titration calorimetry and NMR to determine its structure, thermodynamics and enzymatic properties. It is a hexameric, zinc-containing metalloenzyme that retains its structural integrity up to temperatures slightly exceeding 100 °C. It removes the acetyl group specifically from the non-reducing end of the sugar substrate. Its main substrate is N,N-diacetylchitobiose but it also active, at a reduced level, toward N-acetyl-d-glucosamine or a trimer of N-acetyl-d-glucosamine units. Crystallographic analysis includes the structure of the enzyme with its main substrate approaching the active site in a monodentate manner, replacing the single water molecule that is bound at the Zn²⁺ cation when the ligand is absent. The Zn²⁺ cation remains tetrahedrally coordinated, with three of its ligands provided by the protein's conserved His-Asp-His triad. The crystal structures are consistent with the reaction mechanism proceeding via an anhydride intermediate. Hydrolysis as the first step cannot be ruled out in a hydrated environment but no defined 'hydrolytic water' site can be identified in the analyzed structures.

Modeling difference x-ray scattering observations from an integral membrane protein within a detergent micelle

Time-resolved x-ray solution scattering (TR-XSS) is a sub-field of structural biology, which observes secondary structural changes in proteins as they evolve along their functional pathways. While the number of distinct conformational states and their rise and decay can be extracted directly from TR-XSS experimental data recorded from light-sensitive systems, structural modeling is more challenging. This step often builds from complementary structural information, including secondary structural changes extracted from crystallographic studies or molecular dynamics simulations. When working with integral membrane proteins, another challenge arises because x-ray scattering from the protein and the surrounding detergent micelle interfere and these effects should be considered during structural modeling. Here, we utilize molecular dynamics simulations to explicitly incorporate the x-ray scattering cross term between a membrane protein and its surrounding detergent micelle when modeling TR-XSS data from photoactivated samples of detergent solubilized bacteriorhodopsin. This analysis provides theoretical foundations in support of our earlier approach to structural modeling that did not explicitly incorporate this cross term and improves agreement between experimental data and theoretical predictions at lower x-ray scattering angles.

Cross-validation of distance measurements in proteins by PELDOR/DEER and single-molecule FRET

Pulsed electron-electron double resonance spectroscopy (PELDOR/DEER) and single-molecule Förster resonance energy transfer spectroscopy (smFRET) are frequently used to determine conformational changes, structural heterogeneity, and inter probe distances in biological macromolecules. They provide qualitative information that facilitates mechanistic understanding of biochemical processes and quantitative data for structural modelling. To provide a comprehensive comparison of the accuracy of PELDOR/DEER and smFRET, we use a library of double cysteine variants of four proteins that undergo large-scale conformational changes upon ligand binding. With either method, we use established standard experimental protocols and data analysis routines to determine inter-probe distances in the presence and absence of ligands. The results are compared to distance predictions from structural models. Despite an overall satisfying and similar distance accuracy, some inconsistencies are identified, which we attribute to the use of cryoprotectants for PELDOR/DEER and label-protein interactions for smFRET. This large-scale cross-validation of PELDOR/DEER and smFRET highlights the strengths, weaknesses, and synergies of these two important and complementary tools in integrative structural biology.

Recent advances in small-angle scattering and its expanding impact in structural biology

Applications of small-angle scattering (SAS) in structural biology have benefited from continuing developments in instrumentation, tools for data analysis, modeling capabilities, standards for data and model presentation, and data archiving. The interplay of these capabilities has enabled SAS to contribute to advances in structural biology as the field pushes the boundaries in studies of biomolecular complexes and assemblies as large as whole cells, membrane proteins in lipid environments, and dynamic systems on time scales ranging from femtoseconds to hours. This review covers some of the important advances in biomolecular SAS capabilities for structural biology focused on over the last 5 years and presents highlights of recent applications that demonstrate how the technique is exploring new territories.

Ambiguities in and completeness of SAS data analysis of membrane proteins: the case of the sensory rhodopsin II-transducer complex

Membrane proteins (MPs) play vital roles in the function of cells and are also major drug targets. Structural information on proteins is vital for understanding their mechanism of function and is critical for the development of drugs. However, obtaining high-resolution structures of membrane proteins, in particular, under native conditions is still a great challenge. In such cases, the low-resolution methods small-angle X-ray and neutron scattering (SAXS and SANS) might provide valuable structural information. However, in some cases small-angle scattering (SAS) provides ambiguous ab initio structural information if complementary measurements are not performed and/or a priori information on the protein is not taken into account. Understanding the nature of the limitations may help to overcome these problems. One of the main problems of SAS data analysis of solubilized membrane proteins is the contribution of the detergent belt surrounding the MP. Here, a comprehensive analysis of how the detergent belt contributes to the SAS data of a membrane-protein complex of sensory rhodopsin II with its cognate transducer from Natronomonas pharaonis (NpSRII-NpHtrII) was performed. The influence of the polydispersity of NpSRII-NpHtrII oligomerization is the second problem that is addressed here. It is shown that inhomogeneity in the scattering length density of the detergent belt surrounding a membrane part of the complex and oligomerization polydispersity significantly impacts on SAXS and SANS profiles, and therefore on 3D ab initio structures. It is described how both problems can be taken into account to improve the quality of SAS data treatment. Since SAS data for MPs are usually obtained from solubilized proteins, and their detergent belt and, to a certain extent, oligomerization polydispersity are sufficiently common phenomena, the approaches proposed in this work might be used in SAS studies of different MPs.

Small-angle X-ray scattering for the proteomics community: current overview and future potential

Introduction: Proteins are biological nanoparticles. For structural proteomics and hybrid structural biology, complementary methods are required that allow both high throughput and accurate automated data analysis. Small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) is a method for observing the size and shape of particles, such as proteins and complexes, in solution. SAXS data can be used to model both the structure, oligomeric state, conformational changes, and flexibility of biomolecular samples.Areas covered: The key principles of SAXS, its sample requirements, and its current and future applications for structural proteomics are briefly reviewed. Recent technical developments in SAXS experiments are discussed, and future potential of the method in structural proteomics is evaluated.Expert opinion: SAXS is a method suitable for several aspects of integrative structural proteomics, with current technical developments allowing for higher throughput and time-resolved studies, as well as the analysis of complex samples, such as membrane proteins. Increasing automation and streamlined data analysis are expected to equip SAXS for structure-based screening workflows. Originally, structural genomics had a heavy focus on folded, crystallizable proteins and complexes - SAXS is a method allowing an expansion of this focus to flexible and disordered systems.

MPBuilder: A PyMOL Plugin for Building and Refinement of Solubilized Membrane Proteins Against Small Angle X-ray Scattering Data

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SAXS is a unique tool to study MP systems in the native-like environment.

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The lack of user-friendly software hinders SAXS data interpretation of MPs.

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We present a novel plugin for the widely used molecular visualization system PyMol.

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MPBuilder allows to build and refine models against SAXS data.

Membrane proteins (MPs) are the target of numerous structural and functional studies in biological and medical/pharmaceutical sciences. Strategies for the high-throughput structural analysis of MPs and of their perturbations driven by ligands having potential therapeutic applications are uncommon, often requiring scaled up crystallization, electron microscopy, and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) efforts. Small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) provides a rapid means to study low resolution structures and conformational changes of native MPs in solution without cumbersome sample preparations/treatment. The method requires the MPs solubilized in an appropriate medium (eg. detergents, mixed micelles and nanodiscs) and reliable and robust models are needed to describe the relevant complexes. Here we present MPBuilder, a simple and versatile tool for the generation and refinement of all-atom MP systems in the popular software PyMOL, an environment familiar to most biologists. MPBuilder provides building capability for protein-detergent, bicelle, and lipid-scaffold (saposin nanoparticles, nanodiscs) complexes and links this to the ATSAS software package modules for model refinement and validation against the SAXS data.

Ab initio determination of the shape of membrane proteins in a nanodisc

New software, called Marbles, is introduced that employs SAXS intensities to predict the shape of membrane proteins embedded into membrane nanodiscs. To gain computational speed and efficient convergence, the strategy is based on a hybrid approach that allows one to account for the contribution of the nanodisc to the SAXS intensity through a semi-analytical model, while the embedded membrane protein is treated as a set of beads, similarly to as in well known ab initio methods. The reliability and flexibility of this approach is proved by benchmarking the code, implemented in C++ with a Python interface, on a toy model and two proteins with very different geometry and size.

Methods, development and applications of small-angle X-ray scattering to characterize biological macromolecules in solution

Applications of small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) in structural biology are reviewed. A brief introduction of the SAXS basics is followed by the presentation of the structural features of biological macromolecules in solution that can be assessed by SAXS. The approaches are considered allowing one to obtain low resolution three-dimensional (3D) structural models and to describe assembly states and conformations. Metrics and descriptors required for the assessment of model quality are presented and recent biological applications of SAXS are shown.