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W A Hendrickson

Publications and source records attributed to W A Hendrickson.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources
PubMed1988

Crystal structure of Clostridium acidi-urici ferredoxin at 5-A resolution based on measurements of anomalous X-ray scattering at multiple wavelengths.

The crystal structure of Clostridium acidi-urici ferredoxin has been determined using multiple wavelength anomalous diffraction (MAD) techniques at 5.0-A resolution. The electron density map shows striking similarity to a map of Peptococcus aerogenes ferredoxin computed at the same resolution from the atomic coordinates reported by Adman et al. (Adman, E. T., Sieker, L. C., and Jensen, L. H. (1973) J. Biol. Chem. 248, 3987-3996). Such similarity is expected from the high degree of identity between amino acid sequences of the two proteins. The use of MAD methods has in the relatively recent past become a practical possibility due to instrumental advances enabling the collection of accurate data at several wavelengths at synchrotrons and due to theoretical and computational advances that facilitate the analysis of these data for the determination of phases. These methods hold great promise as an alternative to the multiple isomorphous replacement method in macromolecular structure determination. The present report represents one of the first applications of the MAD techniques to the determination of the structure of a protein which was previously unknown in detail.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1988

Molecular symmetry of Lumbricus erythrocruorin.

X-ray diffraction data to a minimum Bragg spacing of 5.5 A have been collected from crystals of Lumbricus terrestris erthrocruorin, a 3.9 x 10(6)-dalton respiratory protein. Self-rotation function calculations from these data reveal D6 symmetry to a resolution of at least 6 A. These calculations show that erythrocruorin molecules pack in their crystals with molecular diads coincident with crystallographic diads along the a axis. Packing constraints limit the position of the molecular center to within 40 A of x = 1/4a.

Animals↗
PubMed1988

Refinement at 1.4 A resolution of a model of erabutoxin b: treatment of ordered solvent and discrete disorder.

The latter stages in the refinement of the protein erabutoxin b are described. The crystal structure of the 62-residue protein has been refined to a conventional R factor of 0.144 by stereochemically restrained least-squares methods using diffraction data to a limit of 1.4 A spacings. Emphasis was placed on determining as accurately as possible the solvent structure and the structures of heterogeneous groups in the protein. The final model includes two conformers for each of seven side chains and for an octapeptide segment. A total of 111 sites for water molecules have been located as well as one sulfate ion with a total of 68 site occupancies. 65 of the solvent sites overlap either with protein atoms belonging to groups in two alternative conformations or with other solvent sites. Dual protein conformers and overlapping solvent sites were both included in the least-squares refinement. Individual thermal and occupancy parameters were refined for solvent molecules. An analysis of these parameters has provided useful structural information.

Chemical Phenomena↗
PubMed1988

Crystallographic structure analysis of lamprey hemoglobin from anomalous dispersion of synchrotron radiation.

The molecular structure of lamprey hemoglobin was previously determined and refined by conventional crystallographic analysis. In this study, the structural analysis has been repeated in the course of developing the method of multiwavelength anomalous diffraction (MAD) for phase determination. New experimental and analytical procedures that were devised to perform this determination should have general applicability. These include an experimental design to optimize signal strength and reduce systematic errors, experimental evaluation of anomalous scattering factors, and a least-squares procedure for analyzing the MAD data. MAD phases for the structure at 3 A resolution are as accurate overall as the multiple isomorphous replacement (MIR) phases determined previously.

Animals↗
PubMed1988

Selecting a processor for computations in molecular biophysics.

A number of relatively low-cost processors are now available which employ architectural features previously found only on very expensive supercomputers. The speed of these computers makes it possible to reduce the time to solution of certain problems and to resolve large problems that previously were too time consuming to perform locally. A brief overview of this type of processor is given and the implications for computations in molecular biophysics are discussed in reference to the results of a benchmark that uses the refinement of a protein structure from X-ray crystallographic data.

Computers↗
PubMed1987

Characterization and crystallization of core streptavidin.

We have characterized a streptavidin product that had been reduced to a minimal size that still retained full biotin-binding activity. This core streptavidin is proteolyzed at both ends at points that correspond closely with the termini of hen egg white avidin. Core streptavidin is more soluble than is the parent molecule. We have grown three different types of crystals of core streptavidin. The symmetry properties of these crystals prove that the molecule is a tetramer organized in tetrahedral (D2) point symmetry. The crystallographic response to the interaction of biotin with core streptavidin indicates that some conformational change accompanies ligand binding. We are attempting to determine the three-dimensional structure of streptavidin and its complex with selenobiotin from these crystals of core streptavidin.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1987

Structure of myohemerythrin in the azidomet state at 1.7/1.3 A resolution.

The molecular model of myohemerythrin, an oxygen-carrying protein from sipunculan worms, has been refined by stereochemically restrained least-squares minimization at 1.7/1.3 A resolution to a conventional R-value of 0.158. The estimated positional standard deviation is better than 0.15 A for most of the 979 protein atoms. The average isotropic displacement parameter, B, for the protein atoms is 23.1 A2. This high average B parameter appears to be due to the overall motion of the molecule, which correlates with the observed anisotropic diffraction. The side-chains of seven residues were modeled in two conformations, i.e. the side-chains were discretely disordered, and B parameters for several lysine and glutamate side-chains indicate that they are poorly localized. Of the residues in myohemerythrin, 66% are helical, with 62% occurring in four long alpha-helices with mean values for the backbone torsion angles of phi = -65 degrees, psi = -42 degrees, and for the hydrogen bonds distances of N ... O, 3.0 A and H ... O, 2.1 A, and angles of N ... O = C, 153 degrees, N-H ... O, 157 degrees, and H ... O = C, 147 degrees. For two-thirds of the alpha-helical residues, the torsional rotation of the C alpha-C beta bond, chi 1, is approximately -60 degrees, and for one-third chi 1 is approximately 180 degrees. Although most turns in myohemerythrin are well-categorized by previous classification, two do not fit in established patterns. Also included in the refined model are three sulfate ions, all partially occupied, and 157 water molecules, 40% of which are modeled fully occupied. Only one water molecule is internal to the protein, the remainder occur on the surface and are observed principally between symmetry-related molecules contributing, along with van der Waals' contacts, most of the interactions between molecules. There are eight intermolecular protein-protein hydrogen bonds, of which only four are between well-located atoms.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1987

Crystals of Lumbricus erythrocruorin.

Lumbricus terrestris erythrocruorin, a 3.9 X 10(6) Mr respiratory protein, has been crystallized in four different forms. Despite the high molecular symmetry apparent from images in electron micrographs, only one crystal form expresses any molecular symmetry as crystallographic symmetry. The lattice parameters provide upper limits on the molecular dimensions of 267 A X 308 A X 172 A (1 A = 0.1 nm), which agree well with dimensions obtained from electron micrographs of negatively stained molecules. We have collected diffraction data to 5.5 A from type III crystals and have begun a structural analysis.

Animals↗
PubMed1986

Structural heterogeneity in protein crystals.

Extensive conformational heterogeneity is reported in highly refined crystallographic models for the proteins crambin, erabutoxin, myohemerythrin, and lamprey hemoglobin. From 6% to 13% of the amino acid side chains of these four proteins are seen in multiple, discrete conformations. Most common are flexible side chains on the molecular surface, but structural heterogeneity occasionally extends to buried side chains or to the polypeptide backbone. A few instances of sequence heterogeneity are also very clear. Numerous solvent sites are multiplets, and at high resolution, multiple, mutually exclusive solvent networks are observed. The proteins have been studied with X-ray diffraction data extending to spacings of from 0.945 to 2.0 A. The extensive heterogeneity observed here provides detailed, accurate structures for conformational substates of these molecules and sets a lower bound on the number of substates accessible to each protein molecule in solution. Electron density is missing or very weak for only a few side chains in these protein crystals, revealing a strong preference for discrete over continuous conformational perturbations. The results at very high resolution further suggest that even rather small conformational fluctuations produce discrete substates and that unresolved conformers are accommodated in increased atomic thermal parameters.

Crystallization↗
PubMed1986

Principles in the assembly of annelid erythrocruorins.

Erythrocruorins are giant extracellular respiratory proteins found freely dissolved in the blood of annelids. We present here results from our ultracentrifugation, electron microscopy, spectroscopy, and diffraction experiments on these erythrocruorins. These data are rationalized in terms of a three-dimensional model of the quaternary structure. The proposed structure is arranged in a hierarchy of symmetry. The implications of this structure for the assembly process are considered with special attention to uniqueness and self-limitation. The hypothesis is consistent with observations not used in its construction and it serves as a working hypothesis to focus further experimentation.

Animals↗
PubMed1986

Molecular models for the putative dimer of sea lamprey hemoglobin.

The known structures for the tetramers of mammalian and clam hemoglobins provide a point of departure for the modeling of putative dimers of lamprey hemoglobin. The association of subunits is dissimilar for the clam and mammalian tetramers; the superposition of the molecular model for lamprey methemoglobin onto the mammalian and clam tetramers gives five distinct dimers. After energy minimization of the interface regions of the five models, three models afford promising interactions between side chains. One model is analogous to the alpha 1 beta 2 pairing of subunits of mammalian hemoglobins. The other two models are similar to the interfaces between the E and F helices and between the A and B helices of clam hemoglobin. Although the model based on the alpha 1 beta 2 mode of association provides the best explanation of biochemical properties of lamprey hemoglobin, such as the Bohr effect and the dependency of dimer formation on pH, interfaces between the E and F and the A and B helices could be important in the aggregation of monomers of lamprey hemoglobin beyond the level of the dimer.

Animals↗
PubMed1985

Refinement of a molecular model for lamprey hemoglobin from Petromyzon marinus.

A molecular model for the protein and ambient solvent of the complex of cyanide with methemoglobin V from the sea lamprey Petromyzon marinus yields an R-factor of 0.142 against X-ray diffraction data to 2.0 A resolution. The root-mean-square discrepancies from ideal bond length and angle are, respectively, 0.014 A and 1.5 degrees. Atoms that belong to planar groups deviate by 0.012 A from planes determined by a least-squares procedure. The average standard deviation for chiral volumes, peptide torsion angle and torsion angles of side-chains are 0.150 A3, 2.0 degrees and 19.4 degrees, respectively. The root-mean-square variation in the thermal parameters of bonded atoms of the polypeptide backbone is 1.21 A2; the variation in thermal parameters for side-chain atoms is 2.13 A2. The model includes multiple conformations for 11 side-chains of the 149 amino acid residues of the protein. We identify 231 locations as sites of water molecules in full or partial occupancy. The sum of occupancy factors for these sites is approximately 154, representing 28% of the 550 molecules of water within the crystallographic asymmetric unit. The environment of the heme in the cyanide complex of lamprey methemoglobin resembles the deoxy state of the mammalian tetramer. In particular, the bond between atom NE2 of the proximal histidine and the Fe lies 5.1 degrees from the normal of the heme plane. In deoxy- and carbonmonoxyhemoglobins, the deviations from the normal to the heme plane are 7 to 8 degrees and 1 degree, respectively. Furthermore, the inequality in the distance of atom CD2 of the proximal histidine from the pyrrole nitrogen of ring-C of the heme (distance = 3.29 A) and CE1 from the pyrrole nitrogen of ring-A (distance = 3.06 A) is characteristic of deoxyhemoglobin, not carbonmonoxyhemoglobin, where these distances are equal. Finally, a hydrogen bond exists between carbonyl 111 and the hydroxyl of tyrosine 149. The corresponding hydrogen link in the mammalian tetramer is central to the T to R state transition and is present in deoxyhemoglobin but absent in carbonmonoxyhemoglobin. We suggest that the low affinity of oxygen for lamprey hemoglobin may be a consequence of these T-state geometries.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1985

Influence of solvent accessibility and intermolecular contacts on atomic mobilities in hemerythrins.

Thermal factor parameters (B values) have been compared from the refined crystal structures of the myohemerythrin from Themiste zostericola and of the octameric hemerythrin from Themiste dyscrita. These B values, which are directly related to atomic mobilities, were found to correlate rather closely with the solvent accessible areas within the respective crystals. Although protomeric units of the two molecules have exceptionally similar three-dimensional structures, there are marked differences between the patterns of relative atomic mobilities along the polypeptide chains. The differences correspond to lattice and oligomer contacts. An adjustment of the B values based on the fraction of accessible area occluded by contacts yields values that correlate well between the independent subunits and that should pertain more closely to those for the protomer free in solution.

Animals↗
PubMed1982

X-ray absorption spectroscopy of the dimeric iron site in azidomethemerythrin from Phascolopsis gouldii.

X-ray absorption spectroscopy has been used to study the dimeric iron center in azidomethemerythrin from Phascolopsis gouldii. Absorption edge data confirm that the two iron atoms are present as Fe(III) and suggest a hexa-coordination site for each of the iron atoms. The extended x-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) analysis provides direct structural evidence of a mu-oxo bridge between the two iron atoms at an average Fe-O distance of 1.71-1.76 A. Analysis using a multiple-scattering formalism calculates upper limits of 165 degrees for the Fe-O-Fe bridging angle and 3.38 A for the Fe-Fe distance. This result agrees with current crystallographic models being determined by refinement of structures of two azidomethemerythrins.

Animals↗