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Sven Hovmöller

Publications and source records attributed to Sven Hovmöller.

8 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

A practical method to detect and correct for lens distortion in the TEM.

A practical, offline method for experimental detection and correction for projector lens distortion in the transmission electron microscope (TEM) operating in high-resolution (HR) and selected area electron diffraction (SAED) modes is described. Typical TEM works show that, in the simplest case, the distortion transforms on the recording device, which would be a circle into an ellipse. The first goal of the procedure described here is to determine the elongation and orientation of the ellipse. The second goal is to correct for the distortion using an ordinary graphic program. The same experimental data set may also be used to determine the actual microscope magnification and the rotation between SAED patterns and HR images. The procedure may be helpful in several quantitative applications of electron diffraction and HR imaging, for instance while performing accurate lattice parameter determination, or while determining possible metrical deviations (cell edges and angles) from a given symmetry.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2004

Homology modeling of the human microsomal glucose 6-phosphate transporter explains the mutations that cause the glycogen storage disease type Ib.

Glycogen storage disease type Ib is caused by mutations in the glucose 6-phosphate transporter (G6PT) in the endoplasmic reticulum membrane in liver and kidney. Twenty-eight missense and two deletion mutations that cause the disease were previously shown to reduce or abolish the transporter's activity. However, the mechanisms by which these mutations impair transport remain unknown. On the basis of the recently determined crystal structure of its Escherichia coli homologue, the glycerol 3-phosphate transporter, we built a three-dimensional structural model of human G6PT by homology modeling. G6PT is proposed to consist of 12 transmembrane alpha-helices that are divided into N- and C-terminal domains, with the substrate-translocation pore located between the two domains and the substrate-binding site formed by R28 and K240 at the domain interface. The disease-causing mutations were found to occur at four types of positions: (I) in the substrate-translocation pore, (II) at the N-/C-terminal domain interface, (III) in the interior of the N- and C-terminal domains, and (IV) on the protein surface. Whereas class I mutations affect substrate binding directly, class II mutations, mostly involving changes in side chain size, charge, or both, hinder the conformational change required for substrate translocation. On the other hand, class III and class IV mutations, often introducing a charged residue into a helix bundle or at the protein-lipid interface, probably destabilize the protein. These results also suggest that G6PT operates by a similar antiport mechanism as its E. coli homologue, namely, the substrate binds at the N- and C-terminal domain interface and is then transported across the membrane via a rocker-switch type of movement of the two domains.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed2004

Why are both ends of the polypeptide chain on the outside of proteins?

Protein folding starts before the whole polypeptide has been synthesized by the ribosome. No matter how long the polypeptide is or how intricate the fold, both ends of the chain always end up on the surface. From a topological point of view, this is surprising; one would have expected to find the starting (N-terminal) end inside the core of the folded protein, just as in a ball of yarn. We suggest here that the reason for this apparent paradox is that the first amino acid of the emerging polypeptide chain is gripped during protein synthesis, perhaps by the ribosome, and is not released until the whole polypeptide has been synthesized. This binding would greatly decrease the degrees of freedom for the protein-folding process and could also explain why knots are so rare in proteins. Gripping would also guarantee that the N-terminal is accessible on the protein surface as required for binding of ubiquitin, which regulates the natural degradation of proteins and avoids buildup of protein aggregates, such as those found in Huntington's, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and other neurodegenerative diseases.

Alkyl and Aryl Transferases↗
PubMed2004

TRICE - A program for reconstructing 3D reciprocal space and determining unit-cell parameters.

A program system-Trice-for reconstructing the 3D reciprocal lattice from an electron diffraction tilt series is described. The unit-cell parameters can be determined from electron diffraction patterns directly by Trice. The unit cell can be checked and the lattice type and crystal system can be determined from the 3D reciprocal lattice. Trice can be applied to all crystal systems and lattice types.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2003

Structure of Ti2P solved by three-dimensional electron diffraction data collected with the precession technique and high-resolution electron microscopy.

The crystal structure of Ti(2)P has been analysed using electron diffraction and high-resolution electron-microscopy techniques. A new unit cell was found, the compound is hexagonal with a = 19.969 (1) and c = 3.4589 (1) A. The structure was first solved in space group P-62m in projection using direct methods on electron diffraction data from the [001] zone axis. A three-dimensional solution was obtained using again direct methods but on a three-dimensional set of electron diffraction data recorded with the precession technique. Ti(2)P is a distorted Fe(2)P structure and, based on high-resolution images, it is possible to explain that the tripling of the unit cell is due to the ordering of P vacancies that reduces the symmetry to P-6.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2002

Conformations of amino acids in proteins.

The main-chain conformations of 237 384 amino acids in 1042 protein subunits from the PDB were analyzed with Ramachandran plots. The populated areas of the empirical Ramachandran plot differed markedly from the classical plot in all regions. All amino acids in alpha-helices are found within a very narrow range of phi, psi angles. As many as 40% of all amino acids are found in this most populated region, covering only 2% of the Ramachandran plot. The beta-sheet region is clearly subdivided into two distinct regions. These do not arise from the parallel and antiparallel beta-strands, which have quite similar conformations. One beta region is mainly from amino acids in random coil. The third and smallest populated area of the Ramachandran plot, often denoted left-handed alpha-helix, has a different position than that originally suggested by Ramachandran. Each of the 20 amino acids has its own very characteristic Ramachandran plot. Most of the glycines have conformations that were considered to be less favoured. These results may be useful for checking secondary-structure assignments in the PDB and for predicting protein folding.

Amino Acids↗