Diffraction protein crystallization

Present knowledge of the details of the conformation of proteins is based almost exclusively on results of studies of protein crystals by x-ray diffraction. Protein crystals contain anywhere from 20 to 80% solvent (1 ) (dilute buffer, often containing a high molarity of salt or organic precipitant). While some solvent molecules can be discerned as discrete maxima of the electron density distribution calculated from the x-ray results, the majority of the solvent molecules cannot be located in this manner most of the solvent appears to be very mobile and to have a fluctuating structure perhaps similar to that of liquid water. Many additional distinct locations near which a solvent molecule is present during much of the time have been identified in the course of crystallographic refinement of several small proteins (2,3,4,5, 6), but in all cases the description of solvent structure in the crystal is incomplete probably because only a statistical description is inherently appropriate. 

Despite considerable efforts very few membrane proteins have yielded crystals that diffract x-rays to high resolution. In fact, only about a dozen such proteins are currently known, among which are porins (which are outer membrane proteins from bacteria), the enzymes cytochrome c oxidase and prostaglandin synthase, and the light-harvesting complexes and photosynthetic reaction centers involved in photosynthesis. In contrast, many other membrane proteins have yielded small crystals that diffract poorly, or not at all, using conventional x-ray sources. However, using the most advanced synchrotron sources (see Chapter 18) it is now possible to determine x-ray structures from protein crystals as small as 20 pm wide which will permit more membrane protein structures to be elucidated. 

MIR), requires the introduction of new x-ray scatterers into the unit cell of the crystal. These additions should be heavy atoms (so that they make a significant contribution to the diffraction pattern) there should not be too many of them (so that their positions can be located) and they should not change the structure of the molecule or of the crystal cell—in other words, the crystals should be isomorphous. In practice, isomorphous replacement is usually done by diffusing different heavy-metal complexes into the channels of preformed protein crystals. With luck the protein molecules expose side chains in these solvent channels, such as SH groups, that are able to bind heavy metals. It is also possible to replace endogenous light metals in metal-loproteins with heavier ones, e.g., zinc by mercury or calcium by samarium. 

How do we find phase differences between diffracted spots from intensity changes following heavy-metal substitution We first use the intensity differences to deduce the positions of the heavy atoms in the crystal unit cell. Fourier summations of these intensity differences give maps of the vectors between the heavy atoms, the so-called Patterson maps (Figure 18.9). From these vector maps it is relatively easy to deduce the atomic arrangement of the heavy atoms, so long as there are not too many of them. From the positions of the heavy metals in the unit cell, one can calculate the amplitudes and phases of their contribution to the diffracted beams of the protein crystals containing heavy metals. 

The amplitudes and the phases of the diffraction data from the protein crystals are used to calculate an electron-density map of the repeating unit of the crystal. This map then has to be interpreted as a polypeptide chain with a particular amino acid sequence. The interpretation of the electron-density map is complicated by several limitations of the data. First of all, the map itself contains errors, mainly due to errors in the phase angles. In addition, the quality of the map depends on the resolution of the diffraction data, which in turn depends on how well-ordered the crystals are. This directly influences the image that can be produced. The resolution is measured in A... 

Crystallization of proteins can be difficult to achieve and usually requires many different experiments varying a number of parameters, such as pH, temperature, protein concentration, and the nature of solvent and precipitant. Protein crystals contain large channels and holes filled with solvents, which can be used for diffusion of heavy metals into the crystals. The addition of heavy metals is necessary for the phase determination of the diffracted beams. 

Protein crystals contain between 25 and 65 vol% water, which is essential for the crystallisation of these biopolymers. A typical value for the water content of protein crystals is 45% according to Matthews et al. l49,150). For this reason it is possible to study the arrangement of water molecules in the hydration-shell by protein-water and water-water interactions near the protein surface, if one can solve the structure of the crystal by X-ray or neutron diffraction to a sufficiently high resolution151 -153). 

Perozzo, M. A., Ward, K. B., Thompson, R. B., and Ward, W. W. (1988). X-ray diffraction and time-resolved fluorescence analyses of Aequorea green fluorescent protein crystals. J. Biol. Chem. 263 7713-7716. 

Membrane-integrated proteins were always hard to express in cell-based systems in sufficient quantity for structural analysis. In cell-free systems, they can be produced on a milligrams per milliliter scale, which, combined with labeling with stable isotopes, is also very amenable forNMR spectroscopy [157-161]. Possible applications of in vitro expression systems also include incorporation of selenomethionine (Se-Met) into proteins for multiwavelength anomalous diffraction phasing of protein crystal structures [162], Se-Met-containing proteins are usually toxic for cellular systems [163]. Consequently, rational design of more efficient biocatalysts is facilitated by quick access to structural information about the enzyme. 

Membrane integral proteins have transmembrane domains that insert directly into lipid bilayers. Transmembrane domains (TMDs) consist predominantly of nonpolar amino acid residues and may traverse the bilayer once or several times. High-resolution structural information is available for only a few integral membrane proteins, primarily because it is difficult to obtain membrane protein crystals that are adequate for X-ray diffraction measurements. 

Seven crystal systems as described in Table 3.2 occur in the 32 point groups that can be assigned to protein crystals. For crystals with symmetry higher than triclinic, particles within the cell are repeated as a consequence of symmetry operations. The number of asymmetric units within the unit cell is related but not necessarily equal to the number of molecules in a unit cell, depending on how the molecules are related by symmetry operations. From the symmetry in the X-ray diffraction pattern and the systematic absence of specific reflections in the pattern, it is possible to deduce the space group to which the crystal belongs. 

In addition to the dynamic disorder caused by temperature-dependent vibration of atoms, protein crystals have static disorder due to the fact that molecules, or parts of molecules, do not occupy exactly the same position or do not have exactly the same orientation in the crystal unit cell. However, unless data are collected at different temperatures, one cannot distinguish between dynamic and static disorder. Because of protein crystal disorder, the diffraction pattern fades away at some diffraction angle 0max. The corresponding lattice distance <7mm is determined by Bragg s law as shown in equation 3.7 ... 

Once a suitable crystal is obtained and the X-ray diffraction data are collected, the calculation of the electron density map from the data has to overcome a hurdle inherent to X-ray analysis. The X-rays scattered by the electrons in the protein crystal are defined by their amplitudes and phases, but only the amplitude can be calculated from the intensity of the diffraction spot. Different methods have been developed in order to obtain the phase information. Two approaches, commonly applied in protein crystallography, should be mentioned here. In case the structure of a homologous protein or of a major component in a protein complex is already known, the phases can be obtained by molecular replacement. The other possibility requires further experimentation, since crystals and diffraction data of heavy atom derivatives of the native crystals are also needed. Heavy atoms may be introduced by covalent attachment to cystein residues of the protein prior to crystallization, by soaking of heavy metal salts into the crystal, or by incorporation of heavy atoms in amino acids (e.g., Se-methionine) prior to bacterial synthesis of the recombinant protein. Determination of the phases corresponding to the strongly scattering heavy atoms allows successive determination of all phases. This method is called isomorphous replacement. 

Jensen [3.11] as well as Teeter [3.12] studied by X-ray diffraction the structure of water molecules in the vicinity, at the surface and inside of protein crystals. Jensen used rubredoxin (CEB) crystals to deduce the structure of water from the density distribution of electrons, calculated from diffraction pictures. Jensen found that water molecules which are placed within approx. 60 nm of the protein surface form a net, which is most dense in the distance of a hydrogen bond at the donor- or acceptor- molecules of a protein. In distances larger than 60 nm, the structure of water becomes increasingly blurred, ending in a structureless phase. Water molecules are also in the inside of proteins, but are more strongly bound than... 

The electron cloud of protein atoms does not diffract X-rays very well. Only a small fraction of the X-ray beam will be diffracted by any atom. To increase the ability of proteins to diffract X-rays, we make use of protein crystals to amplify the number of X-rays diffracted, and hence the diffraction signal. For example, a crystal with dimensions of 0.3 x 0.3 x 0.3 mm contains approximately 10 copies of an average-sized protein, which gives a corresponding amplification to the X-ray diffraction signal. 

All these results are encouraging for investigators planning to use X-ray diffraction in mixed solvents at subzero temperatures and the rest of the present article will be devoted to a discussion of methods and preliminary results in this field. The methodology for cryoprotection of protein crystals, its physical-chemical basis, and the specific problems raised by the crystalline state, as well as the devices used to collect data at subzero temperatures, will be described. Limitations and perspectives of the procedure will be discussed critically. First attempts to determine the structure of productive enzyme-substrate intermediates through stop-action pictures will be described, as well as investigations showing that X-ray diffraction at selected normal and subzero temperatures can reveal protein structural dynamics. 

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