Validation of the use of intermolecular NOE constraints for obtaining docked structures of protein-ligand complexes

Summary The use of intermolecular NOEs for docking a small ligand molecule into its target protein has been investigated with the aim of determining the effectiveness and methodology of this type of NOE docking calculation. A high-resolution X-ray structure of a protein-ligand complex has been used to simulate loose distance constraints of varying degrees of quality, typical of those estimated from experimental NOE intensities. These simulated data were used to examine the effect of the number, distribution and representation of the experimental constraints on the precision and accuracy of the calculated structures. A standard simulated annealing protocol was used, as well as a more novel method based on rigid-body dynamics. The results showed some analogies with those from similar studies on complete protein NMR structure determinations, but it was found that more constraints per torsion angle are required to define docked structures of similar quality. The effectiveness of different NOE-constraint averaging methods was explored and the benefits of using R^–6 averaging rather than centre averaging with small sets of NOE constraints were shown. The starting protein structure used in docking calculations was obtained from previous X-ray or NMR structure studies on a related complex. The effects on the calculated conformations of introducing structural differences into the binding site of the initial protein structure were also considered.To whom correspondence should be addressed.     

3D structure of bovine pancreatic ribonuclease A in aqueous solution: An approach to tertiary structure determination from a small basis of1H NMR NOE correlations

Summary A method is proposed to generate initial structures in cases where the distance geometry method may fail, such as when the set of¹H NMR NOE-based distance constraints is small in relation to the size of the protein. The method introduces an initial correlation between the and backbone angles (based on empirical observations) which is relaxed in later stages of the calculation. The obtained initial structures are refined by well-established methods of energy minimization and restrained molecular dynamics. The method is applied to determine the solution structure of Ribonuclease A (124 residues) from a NOE basis consisting of 467 NOE cross-correlations (97 intra-residue, 206 sequential, 23 medium-range and 141 long-range) obtained at 360 MHz. The global shape and backbone overall fold of the eight final refined structures are close to those shown by the crystal structure. A meaningful difference in the positioning of the catalytically important His¹¹⁹ side chain in the solution and crystal structures has been detected.     

The Three-Dimensional Solution Structure of the Src Homology Domain-2 of the Growth Factor Receptor-Bound Protein-2

A set of high-resolution three-dimensional solution structures of the Src homology region-2 (SH2) domain of the growth factor receptor-bound protein-2 was determined using heteronuclear NMR spectroscopy. The NMR data used in this study were collected on a stable monomeric protein solution that was free of protein aggregates and proteolysis. The solution structure was determined based upon a total of 1439 constraints, which included 1326 nuclear Overhauser effect distance constraints, 70 hydrogen bond constraints, and 43 dihedral angle constraints. Distance geometry-simulated annealing calculations followed by energy minimization yielded a family of 18 structures that converged to a root-mean-square deviation of 1.09 Å for all backbone atoms and 0.40 Å for the backbone atoms of the central -sheet. The core structure of the SH2 domain contains an antiparallel -sheet flanked by two parallel -helices displaying an overall architecture that is similar to other known SH2 domain structures. This family of NMR structures is compared to the X-ray structure and to another family of NMR solution structures determined under different solution conditions.     

Extensive distance geometry calculations with different NOE calibrations: New criteria for structure selection applied to Sandostatin and BPTI

Summary To generate structures efficiently, a version of the distance geometry program DIANA for a parallel computer was developed, new objective criteria for the selection of NMR solution structures are presented, and the influence of using different calibrations of NOE intensities on the final structures are described. The methods are applied to the structure determination of Sandostatin, a disulfide-bridge octapeptide, and to model calculations of BPTI. On an Alliant FX2800 computer using 10 processors in parallel, the calculations were done 9.2 times faster than with a single processor. Up to 7000 Sandostatin structures were calculated with distance and angular constraints. The procedure for selecting acceptable structures is based on the maximum values of pairwise RMSDs between structures. Suitable target function cut-offs are defined independent of the number of starting structures. The method allowed for an objective comparison of three groups of Sandostatin structures that were calculated from different sets of upper distance constraints which were derived from the same NOE intensity data using three empirical calibration curves. The number of converged structures and the target function values differed significantly among the three groups, but the structures were qualitatively and quantitatively very similar. The conformation is well determined in the cyclic region Cys²–Cys⁷ and adopts a -turn centered at d-Trp⁴–Lys⁵. The criteria for structure selection were further tested with BPTI. Results obtained from sets of structures calculated with and without using the REDAC strategy are consistent and suggest that the structure selection method is objective and generally applicable.     

Deviation versus violation plots: A new technique for assessing the self-consistency of NMR data

Summary A new method has been developed to test the self-consistency of distance constraints derived from NOESY spectra. The technique is based on the premise that the further the atomic coordinates of any given structure vary from the correct structure, the more NOE violations will occur in that structure. This relationship is quantified by plotting the deviation of each structure against the sum of the residual NOE violations. This type of plot is called a DVplot, which is generated by the following means: first the experimental constraints are used to generate a set of structures, then the amount of deviation and violation is quantified for each structure. The deviation of each structure is derived from the root-mean-squared deviation (rmsd) between each structure and the average structure. Violations are quantified for each structure using the new terms S1, S2, and S3. These terms measure the sum of all residual NOE violations greater than 0.1 Å, 0.2 Å, and 0.3 Å, respectively. DVplots are used to show that for series of structures calculated from a single set of NMR constraints, there is an approximate linear correlation between the rmsd and each of the three sums, S1, S2, and S3. Furthermore, it is proposed that the x-intercepts derived from the three plots of S1, S2, and S3 will converge if the NOE constraints are selfconsistent. The new technique is applied to five different proteins using both experimental and simulated constraint sets.Abbreviations DVplots deviation versus violation plots - NOE a correlation between two protons observed by the nuclear Overhauser effect - r correlation coefficient - rmsd root-mean-squared deviation - S1, S2, and S3 measures of the sum of all NOE violations greater than 0.1 Å, 0.2 Å, and 0.3 Å, respectively     

Complete relaxation matrix refinement of NMR structures of proteins using analytically calculated dihedral angle derivatives of NOE intensities

Summary A new method for refining three-dimensional (3D) NMR structures of proteins is described, which takes account of the complete relaxation pathways. Derivatives of the NOE intensities with respect to the dihedral angles are analytically calculated, and efficiently evaluated with the use of a filter technique for identifying the dominant terms of these derivatives. This new method was implemented in the distance geometry program DIANA. As an initial test, we refined 30 rigid distorted helical structures, using a simulated data set of NOE distance constraints for a rigid standard -helix. The final root-mean-square deviations of the refined structures relative to the standard helix were less than 0.1 Å, and the R-factors dropped from values between 7% and 32% to values of less than 0.5% in all cases, which compares favorably with the results from distance geometry calculations. In particular, because spin diffusion was not explicitly considered in the evaluation of exact¹H–¹H distances corresponding to the simulated NOE intensities, a group of nearly identical distance geometry structures was obtained which had about 0.5 Å root-mean-square deviation from the standard -helix. Further test calculations using an experimental NOE data set recorded for the protein trypsin inhibitor K showed that the complete relaxation matrix refinement procedure in the DIANA program is functional also with systems of practical interest.Abbreviations RMSD root-mean-square deviation - NOE nuclear Overhauser enhancement - NOESY 2-dimensional nuclear Overhauser enhancement spectroscopy - CPU central processing unit     

Determination of three-dimensional protein structures from nuclear magnetic resonance data using fragments of known structures

A method to build a three-dimensional protein model from nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) data using fragments from a data base of crystallographically determined protein structures is presented. The interproton distances derived from the nuclear Overhauser effect (NOE) data are compared to the precalculated distances in the known protein structures. An efficient search algorithm is used, which arranges the distances in matrices akin to a C alpha diagonal distance plot, and compares the NOE distance matrices for short sequential zones of the protein to the data base matrices. After cluster analysis of the fragments found in this way, the structure is built by aligning fragments in overlapping zones. The sequentially long-range NOEs cannot be used in the initial fragments search but are vital to discriminate between several possible combinations of different groups of fragments. The method has been tested on one simulated NOE data set derived from a crystal structure and one experimental NMR data set. The method produces models that have good local structure, but may contain larger global errors. These models can be used as the starting point for further refinement, e.g., by restrained molecular dynamics or interactive graphics.     

Treatment of NOE constraints involving equivalent or nonstereoassigned protons in calculations of biomacromolecular structures

Summary Two modifications to the commonly used protocols for calculating NMR structures are developed, relating to the treatment of NOE constraints involving groups of equivalent protons or nonstereoassigned diastereotopic protons. Firstly, a modified method is investigated for correcting for multiplicity, which is applicable whenever all NOE intensities are calibrated as a single set and categorised in broad intensity ranges. Secondly, a new set of values for pseudoatom corrections is proposed for use with calculations employing centre-averaging. The effect of these protocols on structure calculations is demonstrated using two proteins, one of which is well defined by the NOE data, the other less so. It is shown that failure to correct for multiplicity when using r^-6 averaging results in overly precise structures, higher NOE energies and deviations from geometric ideality, while failure to correct for multiplicity when using r^-6 summation can cause an avoidable degradation of precision if the NOE data are sparse. Conversely, when multiplicities are treated correctly, r^-6 averaging, r^-6 summation and centre averaging all give closely comparable results when the structure is well defined by the data. When the NOE data contain less information, r^-6 averaging or r^-6 summation offer a significant advantage over centre averaging, both in terms of precision and in terms of the proportion of calculations that converge on a consisten result.Abbreviations HMG high mobility group - NOE nuclear Overhauser enhancement - NOESY nuclear Overhauser enhancement spectroscopy - rmsd root-mean-square deviation - YASAP yet another simulated-annealing protocol     

Protein side-chain resonance assignment and NOE assignment using RDC-defined backbones without TOCSY data

One bottleneck in NMR structure determination lies in the laborious and time-consuming process of side-chain resonance and NOE assignments. Compared to the well-studied backbone resonance assignment problem, automated side-chain resonance and NOE assignments are relatively less explored. Most NOE assignment algorithms require nearly complete side-chain resonance assignments from a series of through-bond experiments such as HCCH-TOCSY or HCCCONH. Unfortunately, these TOCSY experiments perform poorly on large proteins. To overcome this deficiency, we present a novel algorithm, called Nasca (NOE Assignment and Side-Chain Assignment), to automate both side-chain resonance and NOE assignments and to perform high-resolution protein structure determination in the absence of any explicit through-bond experiment to facilitate side-chain resonance assignment, such as HCCH-TOCSY. After casting the assignment problem into a Markov Random Field (MRF), Nasca extends and applies combinatorial protein design algorithms to compute optimal assignments that best interpret the NMR data. The MRF captures the contact map information of the protein derived from NOESY spectra, exploits the backbone structural information determined by RDCs, and considers all possible side-chain rotamers. The complexity of the combinatorial search is reduced by using a dead-end elimination (DEE) algorithm, which prunes side-chain resonance assignments that are provably not part of the optimal solution. Then an A* search algorithm is employed to find a set of optimal side-chain resonance assignments that best fit the NMR data. These side-chain resonance assignments are then used to resolve the NOE assignment ambiguity and compute high-resolution protein structures. Tests on five proteins show that Nasca assigns resonances for more than 90% of side-chain protons, and achieves about 80% correct assignments. The final structures computed using the NOE distance restraints assigned by Nasca have backbone RMSD 0.8–1.5 Å from the reference structures determined by traditional NMR approaches.     

Complete protein structure determination using backbone residual dipolar couplings and sidechain rotamer prediction

Residual dipolar couplings provide significant structural information for proteins in the solution state, which makes them attractive for the rapid determination of protein structures. While dipolar couplings contain inherent structural ambiguities, these can be reduced via an overlap similarity measure that insists that protein fragments assigned to overlapping regions of the sequence must have self-consistent structures. This allows us to determine a backbone fold (including the correct C–C bond orientations) using only residual dipolar coupling data from one ordering medium. The resulting backbone structures are of sufficient quality to allow for modeling of sidechain rotamer states using a rotamer prediction algorithm and a force field employing the Surface Generalized Born continuum solvation model. We demonstrate the applicability of the method using experimental data for ubiquitin. These results illustrate the synergies that are possible between protein structural database and molecular modeling methods and NMR spectroscopy, and we expect that the further development of these methods will lead to the extraction of high resolution structural information from minimal NMR data.     

1H resonance assignments,secondary structure and general topology of single-chain monellin in solution as determined by1H 2D-NMR

Summary We determined the resonance assignments, secondary structure and general topology of the 11-kDa sweet protein single-chain monellin (SCM), using two-dimensional proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (2D-NMR). SCM is a genetically engineered protein whose design is based on the crystal structure of natural, two-chain monellin (Kim et al., 1989). Analysis of the NMR spectra shows that the secondary structure of SCM consists of a five-strand anti-parallel -sheet and a 15-residue -helix. Tertiary NOE constraints place the a-helix on the hydrophobic side of the -sheet, and indicate that the sheet is partially wrapped around the helix. The general structural features determined for SCM are similar to those of native monellin (Ogata et al., 1987). Some differences between the SCM structure in solution and the crystal structure of monellin are discussed.     

The NMR solution structure and characterization of pH dependent chemical shifts of the β-elicitin, cryptogein

The NMR structure of the 98 residue -elicitin, cryptogein, which induces a defence response in tobacco, was determined using 15N and 13C/15N labelled protein samples. In aqueous solution conditions in the millimolar range, the protein forms a discrete homodimer where the N-terminal helices of each monomer form an interface. The structure was calculated with 1047 intrasubunit and 40 intersubunit NOE derived distance constraints and 236 dihedral angle constraints for each subunit using the molecular dynamics program DYANA. The twenty best conformers were energy-minimized in OPAL to give a root-mean-square deviation to the mean structure of 0.82 Å for the backbone atoms and 1.03 Å for all heavy atoms. The monomeric structure is nearly identical to the recently derived X-ray crystal structure (backbone rmsd 0.86 Å for residues 2 to 97) and shows five helices, a two stranded antiparallel -sheet and an -loop. Using 1H,15N HSQC spectroscopy the pKa of the N- and C-termini, Tyr12, Asp21, Asp30, Asp72, and Tyr85 were determined and support the proposal of several stabilizing ionic interactions including a salt bridge between Asp21 and Lys62. The hydroxyl hydrogens of Tyr33 and Ser78 are clearly observed indicating that these residues are buried and hydrogen bonded. Two other tyrosines, Tyr47 and Tyr87, show pKa's >12, however, there is no indication that their hydroxyls are hydrogen bonded. Calculations of theoretical pKa's show general agreement with the experimentally determined values and are similar for both the crystal and solution structures.     

Systematic evaluation of CS‐Rosetta for membrane protein structure prediction with sparse NOE restraints

We critically test and validate the CS‐Rosetta methodology for de novo structure prediction of ‐helical membrane proteins (MPs) from NMR data, such as chemical shifts and NOE distance restraints. By systematically reducing the number and types of NOE restraints, we focus on determining the regime in which MP structures can be reliably predicted and pinpoint the boundaries of the approach. Five MPs of known structure were used as test systems, phototaxis sensory rhodopsin II (pSRII), a subdomain of pSRII, disulfide binding protein B (DsbB), microsomal prostaglandin E2 synthase‐1 (mPGES‐1), and translocator protein (TSPO). For pSRII and DsbB, where NMR and X‐ray structures are available, resolution‐adapted structural recombination (RASREC) CS‐Rosetta yields structures that are as close to the X‐ray structure as the published NMR structures if all available NMR data are used to guide structure prediction. For mPGES‐1 and Bacillus cereus TSPO, where only X‐ray crystal structures are available, highly accurate structures are obtained using simulated NMR data. One main advantage of RASREC CS‐Rosetta is its robustness with respect to even a drastic reduction of the number of NOEs. Close‐to‐native structures were obtained with one randomly picked long‐range NOEs for every 14, 31, 38, and 8 residues for full‐length pSRII, the pSRII subdomain, TSPO, and DsbB, respectively, in addition to using chemical shifts. For mPGES‐1, atomically accurate structures could be predicted even from chemical shifts alone. Our results show that atomic level accuracy for helical membrane proteins is achievable with CS‐Rosetta using very sparse NOE restraint sets to guide structure prediction. Proteins 2017; 85:812–826. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Combined procedure of distance geometry and restrained molecular dynamics techniques for protein structure determination from nuclear magnetic resonance data: application to the DNA binding domain of lac repressor from Escherichia coli

The technique of two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance (2D-NMR) has recently assumed an active role in obtaining information on structures of polypeptides, small proteins, sugars, and DNA fragments in solution. In order to generate spatial structures from the atom-atom distance information obtained by the NMR method, different procedures have been developed. Here we introduce a combined procedure of distance geometry (DG) and molecular dynamics (MD) calculations for generating 3D structures that are consistent with the NMR data set and have reasonable internal energies. We report the application of the combined procedure on the lac repressor DNA binding domain (headpiece) using a set of 169 NOE and 17 "hydrogen bond" distance constraints. Eight of ten structures generated by the distance geometry algorithm were refined within 10 ps MD simulation time to structures with low internal energies that satisfied the distance constraints. Although the combination of DG and MD was designed to combine the good sampling properties of the DG algorithm with an efficient method of lowering the internal energy of the molecule, we found that the MD algorithm contributes significantly to the sampling as well.     

Three-dimensional structure of echistatin and dynamics of the active site

Summary The snake venom protein echistatin contains the cell recognition sequence Arg-Gly-Asp and is a potent inhibitor of platelet aggregation. The three-dimensional structure of echistatin and the dynamics of the active RGD site are presented. A set of structures was determined using the Distance Geometry method and subsequently refined by Molecular Dynamics and energy minimization. Disulfide pairings are suggested, based on violations of experimental constraints. The structures satisfy 230 interresidue distance constraints, derived from nuclear Overhauser effect measurements, five hydrogen-bonding constraints, and 21 torsional constraints from vicinal spin-spin coupling constants. The segment from Gly⁵ to Cys²⁰ and from Asp³⁰ to Asn⁴² has a well-defined conformation and the Arg-Gly-Asp sequence, which adopts a turn-like structure, is located at the apex of a nine-residue loop connecting the two strands of a distorted -sheet. The mobility of the Arg-Gly-Asp site has been quantitatively characterized by ¹⁵N relaxation measurements. The overall correlation time of echistatin was determined from fluorescence measurements, and was used in a model-free analysis to determine internal motional parameters. The active site has order parameters of 0.3–0.5, i.e., among the smallest values ever observed at the active site of a protein. Correlation of the flexible region of the protein as characterized by relaxation experiments and the NMR solution structures was made by calculating generalized order parameters from the ensemble of three-dimensional structures. The motion of the RGD site detected experimentally is more extensive than a simple RGD loop wagging motional model, suggested by an examination of superposed solution structures.     

NMR snapshots of a fluctuating protein structure: ubiquitin at 30 bar-3 kbar

Conformational fluctuation plays a key role in protein function, but we know little about the associated structural changes. Here we present a general method for elucidating, at the atomic level, a large-scale shape change of a protein molecule in solution undergoing conformational fluctuation. The method utilizes the intimate relationship between conformation and partial molar volume and determines three-dimensional structures of a protein at different pressures using variable pressure NMR technique, whereby NOE distance and torsion angle constraints are used to create average coordinates. Ubiquitin (pH 4.6 at 20 degrees C) was chosen as the first target, for which structures were determined at 30 bar and at 3 kbar, giving "NMR snapshots" of a fluctuating protein structure at atomic resolution. The result reveals that the helix swings in and out by >3 angstroms with a simultaneous reorientation of the C-terminal segment, providing an "open" conformer suitable for enzyme recognition. Spin relaxation analysis indicates that this fluctuation occurs in the ten microsecond time range with activation volumes -4.2(+/-3.2) and 18.5(+/-3.0) ml/mol for the "closed-to-open" and the "open-to-closed" transitions, respectively.     

Solution structures of staphylococcal nuclease from multidimensional, multinuclear NMR: Nuclease-H124L and its ternary complex with Ca2+ and thymidine-3′,5′-bisphosphate

The solution structures of staphylococcal nuclease (nuclease) H124L and itsternary complex, (nuclease-H124L)pdTpCa²⁺, were determinedby ab initio dynamic simulated annealing using 1925 NOE, 119 , 20¹ and 112 hydrogen bond constraints for the free protein,and 2003 NOE, 118 , 20 ¹ and 114 hydrogen bondconstraints for the ternary complex. In both cases, the final structuresdisplay only small deviations from idealized covalent geometry. In structuredregions, the overall root-mean-square deviations from mean atomic coordinatesare 0.46 (±0.05) Å and 0.41 (±0.05) Å for thebackbone heavy atoms of nuclease and its ternary complex, respectively. Thebackbone conformations of residues in the loop formed byArg⁸¹–Gly⁸⁶, which is adjacent to the activesite, are more precisely defined in the ternary complex than in unligatednuclease. Also, the protein side chains that show NOEs and evidence forhydrogen bonds to pdTp (Arg³⁵, Lys⁸⁴,Tyr⁸⁵, Arg⁸⁷, Tyr¹¹³, andTyr¹¹⁵) are better defined in the ternary complex. As has beenobserved previously in the X-ray structures of nuclease-WT, the binding ofpdTp causes the backbone of Tyr¹¹³ to change from an extendedto a left-handed -helical conformation. The NMR structures reportedhere were compared with available X-ray structures: nuclease-H124L [Truckseset al. (1996) Protein Sci., 5, 1907–1916] and the ternary complex ofwild-type staphylococcal nuclease [Loll and Lattman (1989) Proteins Struct.Funct. Genet., 5, 183–201]. Overall, the solution structures ofnuclease-H124L are consistent with these crystal structures, but smalldifferences were observed between the structures in the solution and crystalenvironments. These included differences in the conformations of certain sidechains, a reduction in the extent of helix 1 in solution, and many fewerhydrogen bonds involving side chains in solution.     

Solution structure of a LewisX analogue by off-resonance 1H NMR spectroscopy without use of an internal distance reference

Summary A recent ¹H NMR method has been applied to the determination of the solution structure and internal dynamics of a synthetic mixed C/O trisaccharide related to sialyl Lewis^x. Varying the rf field offset in ROESY-type experiments enabled the measurement of longitudinal and transverse dipolar cross-relaxation rates with high accuracy. Assuming that for each proton pair the motion could be represented by a single exponential autocorrelation function, it was possible to derive geometrical parameters (r) and dynamic parameters _cp. With this assumption, 224 cross-relaxation rates have been transformed into 30 interproton distance constraints and 30 dipolar correlation times. The distance constraints have been used in a simulated-annealing procedure. This trisaccharide exhibits a structure close to the O-glycosidic analogue, but its flexibility seems highly reduced. On the basis of the determined structure and dynamics, it is shown that no conformational exchange occurs, the molecule existing in the form of a unique family in aqueous solution. In order to assess the quality of the resulting structures and to validate this new experimental procedure of distance extraction, we finally compare these solution structures to the ones obtained using three different sets of distances deduced from three choices of internal reference. It appears that this procedure allows the determination of the most precise and accurate solution.Abbreviations COSY correlation spectroscopy - NOE nuclear Overhauser enhancement - NOESY nuclear Overhauser enhancement spectroscopy; rmsd, root-mean-square deviation - ROESY rotating frame Overhauser enhancement spectroscopy - SLe^x sialyl Lewis^x - TOCSY total correlation spectroscopy     

Structural and dynamic studies of two antigenic loops from haemagglutinin: A relaxation matrix approach

Summary We have investigated the dynamics and structural behaviour of two antigenic peptides using ¹H NMR. The two cyclic peptides mimic the antigenic site A of influenza haemagglutinin protein; they only differ in the way they were cyclized and in the size of their respective linkers. Homonuclear relaxation parameters extracted from a complete NOE matrix were interpreted in terms of local dynamics. A set of distance constraints was deduced from these parameters which allowed 3D models to be constructed using distance geometry. NOE back-calculation was used to check the validity of the final models. Strong variations of internal motion amplitude have been found in both peptides along their backbone. Motions with high amplitudes have been localized in the Gly-Pro-Gly sequence which forms a -turn in both structures.Abbreviations DSS 3-(trimethylsilyl)-1-propanesulfonic acid - D-loop aspartic acid loop - ELISA enzyme-linked immunoabsorbent assay - f.i.d free induction decay - HOHAHA homonuclear Hartmann-Hahn spectroscopy - HPLC high pressure liquid chromatography - K-loop lysine loop - NMR nuclear magnetic resonance - NOE nuclear Overhauser enhancement - NOESY nuclear Overhauser enhancement spectroscopy - r.m.s.d. root-mean-square deviation of atomic positions     

Statistical strategy for stereospecific hydrogen NMR assignments: Validation procedures for the floating prochirality method

Summary We examine the statistical and other considerations which determine the validity and reproducibility of stereospecific hydrogen NMR assignments obtained by the floating prochirality method. In this method, the assignment of a prochiral configuration of hydrogens at selected centers is allowed to float during the structure refinement, and the distribution of prochiral orientations in highly refined structures is subjected to statistical analysis. The underlying statistical basis for this approach is examined and potential limitations of current approaches are identified. As an example, approximately 1300 distance constraints obtained from NOESY spectra of oxidized horse cytochrome c have been used to examine several computational strategies. Repeated calculations were done by several different methods on both the whole molecule (104 residues plus heme) and on a 23-residue fragment containing two helices, a turn, and flanking residues. The results show that, even with NOE constraints alone, one third of the centers may be reproducibly assigned, provided appropriate precautions are taken. These precautions include adjustments for multiple statistical comparisons and characterization of statistical interactions between prochiral centers. The analysis demonstrates that inadequately constrained systems, such as fragments from a larger molecule, may produce misleading results, raising concerns about methods which rely solely on intraresidue and sequential interresidue contraints. A mathematical model describing interactions among prochiral centers is described and validated, and protocols for assignment and statistical validation are presented.