SAGA: rapid automatic mainchain NMR assignment for large proteins

Here we describe a new algorithm for automatically determining the mainchain sequential assignment of NMR spectra for proteins. Using only the customary triple resonance experiments, assignments can be quickly found for not only small proteins having rather complete data, but also for large proteins, even when only half the residues can be assigned. The result of the calculation is not the single best assignment according to some criterion, but rather a large number of satisfactory assignments that are summarized in such a way as to help the user identify portions of the sequence that are assigned with confidence, vs. other portions where the assignment has some correlated alternatives. Thus very imperfect initial data can be used to suggest future experiments.     

Automatic methyl assignment in large proteins by the MAGIC algorithm

Selective methyl labeling is an extremely powerful approach to study the structure, dynamics and function of biomolecules by NMR. Despite spectacular progress in the field, such studies remain rather limited in number. One of the main obstacles remains the assignment of the methyl resonances, which is labor intensive and error prone. Typically, NOESY crosspeak patterns are manually correlated to the available crystal structure or an in silico template model of the protein. Here, we propose methyl assignment by graphing inference construct, an exhaustive search algorithm with no peak network definition requirement. In order to overcome the combinatorial problem, the exhaustive search is performed locally, i.e. for a small number of methyls connected through-space according to experimental 3D methyl NOESY data. The local network approach drastically reduces the search space. Only the best local assignments are combined to provide the final output. Assignments that match the data with comparable scores are made available to the user for cross-validation by additional experiments such as methyl-amide NOEs. Several NMR datasets for proteins in the 25–50 kDa range were used during development and for performance evaluation against the manually assigned data. We show that the algorithm is robust, reliable and greatly speeds up the methyl assignment task.     

A novel strategy for the assignment of side-chain resonances in completely deuterated large proteins using 13C spectroscopy

The assignment of the aliphatic ¹³C resonances of trimeric Bacillus Subtilis chorismate mutase, a protein with a molecular mass of 44 kDa, consisting of three 127-residue monomers is presented by use of two-dimensional (2D) ¹³C-start and ¹³C-observe NMR experiments. These experiments start with ¹³C excitation and end with ¹³C observation while relying on the long transverse relaxation times of ¹³C spins in uniformly deuterated and ¹³C,¹⁵N-labeled large proteins. Gains in sensitivity are achieved by the use of a paramagnetic relaxation enhancement agent to reduce ¹³C T ₁ relaxation times with little effect on ¹³C T ₂ relaxation times. Such 2D ¹³C-only NMR experiments circumvent problems associated with the application of conventional experiments for side-chain assignment to proteins of larger sizes, for instance, the absence or low concentration of the side-chain ¹H spins, the transfer of the side-chain spin polarization to the ¹H^N spins for signal acquisition, or the necessity of a quantitative reprotonation of the methyl moieties in the otherwise fully deuterated side-chains. We demonstrate that having obtained a nearly complete assignment of the side-chain aliphatic ¹³C resonances, the side-chain ¹H chemical shifts can be assigned in a semiautomatic fashion using 3D ¹⁵N-resolved and ¹³C-resolved NOESY experiments measured with a randomly partially protonated protein sample. We also discuss perspectives for structure determination of larger proteins by using novel strategies which are based on the ¹H,¹H NOEs in combination with multiple residual dipolar couplings between adjacent ¹³C spins determined with 2D ¹³C-only experiments.     

A new triple-resonance experiment for the sequential assignment of backbone resonances in proteins

Summary A new protocol is described for obtaining intraresidual and sequential correlations between carbonyl carbons and amide ¹H and ¹⁵N resonances of amino acids. Frequency labeling of ¹³CO spins occurs during a period required for the ¹³C-¹⁵N polarization transfer, leading to an optimized transfer efficiency. In a four-dimensional version of the experiment, ¹³C chemical shifts are used to improve the dispersion of signals. The resonance frequencies of all backbone nuclei can be detected in a 3D variant in which cross peaks are split along two frequency axes. This pulse scheme is the equivalent of a five-dimensional experiment. The novel pulse sequences are applied to flavodoxin from Desulfovibrio vulgaris.     

Improved pulse sequences for sequence specific assignment of aromatic proton resonances in proteins

Aromatic proton resonances of proteins are notoriously difficult to assign. Through-bond correlation experiments are preferable over experiments that rely on through-space interactions because they permit aromatic chemical shift assignments to be established independently of the structure determination process. Known experimental schemes involving a magnetization transfer across the C^β–C^γ bond in aromatic side chains either suffer from low efficiency for the relay beyond the C^δ position, use sophisticated ¹³C mixing schemes, require probe heads suitable for application of high ¹³C radio-frequency fields or rely on specialized isotopic labelling patterns. Novel methods are proposed that result in sequential assignment of all aromatic protons in uniformly ¹³C/¹⁵N labelled proteins using standard spectrometer hardware. Pulse sequences consist of routinely used building blocks and are therefore reasonably simple to implement. Ring protons may be correlated with β-carbons and, alternatively, with amide protons (and nitrogens) or carbonyls in order to take advantage of the superior dispersion of backbone resonances. It is possible to record spectra in a non-selective manner, yielding signals of all aromatic residues, or as amino-acid type selective versions to further reduce ambiguities. The new experiments are demonstrated with four different proteins with molecular weights ranging from 11 kDa to 23 kDa. Their performance is compared with that of (Hβ)Cβ(CγCδ)Hδ and (Hβ)Cβ(CγCδCɛ)Hɛ pulse sequences [Yamazaki et al. (1993) J Am Chem Soc 115:11054–11055]. Electronic Supplementary Material The online version of this article (doi: ) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Mars - robust automatic backbone assignment of proteins

MARS a program for robust automatic backbone assignment of (13)C/(15)N labeled proteins is presented. MARS does not require tight thresholds for establishing sequential connectivity or detailed adjustment of these thresholds and it can work with a wide variety of NMR experiments. Using only (13)C(alpha)/(13)C(beta) connectivity information, MARS allows automatic, error-free assignment of 96% of the 370-residue maltose-binding protein. MARS can successfully be used when data are missing for a substantial portion of residues or for proteins with very high chemical shift degeneracy such as partially or fully unfolded proteins. Other sources of information, such as residue specific information or known assignments from a homologues protein, can be included into the assignment process. MARS exports its result in SPARKY format. This allows visual validation and integration of automated and manual assignment.     

Computer assignment of the backbone resonances of labelled proteins using two-dimensional correlation experiments

Summary We present ALPS (Assignment for Labelled Protein Spectra), a flexible computer program for the automatic assignment of backbone NMR resonances of ¹⁵N/¹³C-labelled proteins. The program constructs pseudoresidues from peak-picking lists of a set of two-dimensional triple resonance experiments and uses either a systematic search or a simulated annealing-based optimization to perform the assignment. This method has been successfully tested on two-dimensional triple resonance spectra of Rhodobacter capsulatus ferrocytochrome c ₂ (116 amino acids).     

A new approach for obtaining sequential assignment of large proteins

A novel NMR experiment for obtaining sequential assignment of large proteins and protein complexes is described. The proposed method takes full advantage of transverse relaxation optimized spectroscopy (TROSY) and utilizes spin-state-selection to distinguish between intraresidual and sequential connectivities in the HNCA-TROSY-type correlation experiment. Thus, the intra- and interresidual cross peaks can be identified without relaying magnetization via carbonyl carbon, which relaxes very rapidly at the high magnetic fields where TROSY is most efficient. In addition, the presented method enables measurement of several scalar and residual dipolar couplings, which can potentially be used for structure determination of large proteins.     

Proton homonuclear correlated spectroscopy as an assignment tool for hyperfine-shifted resonances in medium-sized paramagnetic proteins: cyanide-ligated yeast cytochrome c peroxidase as an example.

Two types of homonuclear proton COSY experiments are shown to be useful in making resonance assignments in cyanide-ligated cytochrome c peroxidase, a 34 kDa paramagnetic heme protein. Both magnitude COSY and phase-sensitive COSY experiments provide spectra useful for making proton assignments to resonances of strongly relaxed hyperfine-shifted protons. This initial investigation demonstrates that COSY experiments combined with NOESY experiments are feasible for hyperfine-shifted protons of paramagnetic proteins larger than metmyoglobins and ferricytochromes c, for which the nuclear spin-lattice relaxation times are in the range 70-300 ms. Taken together, COSY and NOESY experiments, although not yet widely applied to paramagnetic metalloproteins, provide a reliable protocol for accurately assigning hyperfine-shifted resonances that are part of a metalloenzyme's active site. Specific examples of expected proton homonuclear COSY connectivities that were not observed in these experiments are presented, and utilization of COSY with respect to the proton resonance line widths and apparent nuclear relaxation times is discussed. The COSY experiments presented here provide valuable verification of previously proposed hyperfine resonance assignments for cyanide-ligated cytochrome c peroxidase, which were made by using NOESY experiments alone, and in several instances expand these assignments to additional protons in particular amino acid spin systems.     

High-dimensionality 13C direct-detected NMR experiments for the automatic assignment of intrinsically disordered proteins

We present three novel exclusively heteronuclear 5D ¹³C direct-detected NMR experiments, namely (H^N-flipN)CONCACON, (HCA)CONCACON and (H)CACON(CA)CON, designed for easy sequence-specific resonance assignment of intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs). The experiments proposed have been optimized to overcome the drawbacks which may dramatically complicate the characterization of IDPs by NMR, namely the small dispersion of chemical shifts and the fast exchange of the amide protons with the solvent. A fast and reliable automatic assignment of α-synuclein chemical shifts was obtained with the Tool for SMFT-based Assignment of Resonances (TSAR) program based on the information provided by these experiments.     

BEST-TROSY experiments for time-efficient sequential resonance assignment of large disordered proteins

The characterization of the conformational properties of intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs), and their interaction modes with physiological partners has recently become a major research topic for understanding biological function on the molecular level. Although multidimensional NMR spectroscopy is the technique of choice for the study of IDPs at atomic resolution, the intrinsically low resolution, and the large peak intensity variations often observed in NMR spectra of IDPs call for resolution- and sensitivity-optimized pulse schemes. We present here a set of amide proton-detected 3D BEST-TROSY correlation experiments that yield the required sensitivity and spectral resolution for time-efficient sequential resonance assignment of large IDPs. In addition, we introduce two proline-edited 2D experiments that allow unambiguous identification of residues adjacent to proline that is one of the most abundant amino acids in IDPs. The performance of these experiments, and the advantages of BEST-TROSY pulse schemes are discussed and illustrated for two IDPs of similar length (~270 residues) but with different conformational sampling properties.     

A simple biosynthetic method for stereospecific resonance assignment of prochiral methyl groups in proteins

A new method for stereospecific assignment of prochiral methyl groups in proteins is presented in which protein samples are produced using U-[¹³C]glucose and subsaturating amounts of 2-[¹³C]methyl-acetolactate. The resulting non-uniform labeling pattern allows proR and proS methyl groups to be easily distinguished by their different phases in a constant-time two-dimensional ¹H-¹³C correlation spectra. Protein samples are conveniently prepared using the same media composition as the main uniformly-labeled sample and contain higher levels of isotope-enrichment than fractional labeling approaches. This new strategy thus represents an economically-attractive, robust alternative for obtaining isotopically-encoded stereospecific NMR assignments of prochiral methyl groups.     

Efficient side-chain and backbone assignment in large proteins: Application to tGCN5

In determining the structure of large proteins by NMR, it would be desirable to obtain complete backbone, side-chain, and NOE assignments efficiently, with a minimum number of experiments and samples. Although new strategies have made backbone assignment highly efficient, side-chain assignment has remained more difficult. Faced with the task of assigning side-chains in a protein with poor relaxation properties, the Tetrahymena histone acetyltransferase tGCN5, we have developed an assignment strategy that would provide complete side-chain assignments in cases where fast ¹³C transverse relaxation causes HCCH-TOCSY experiments to fail. Using the strategy presented here, the majority of aliphatic side-chain proton and carbon resonances can be efficiently obtained using optimized H(CC-CO)NH-TOCSY and (H)C(C-CO)NH-TOCSY experiments on a partially deuterated protein sample. Assignments can be completed readily using additional information from a ¹³ C-dispersed NOESY-HSQC spectrum. Combination of these experiments with H(CC)NH-TOCSY and (H)C(C)NH-TOCSY may provide complete backbone and side-chain assignments for large proteins using only one or two samples.     

TSAR: a program for automatic resonance assignment using 2D cross-sections of high dimensionality, high-resolution spectra

While NMR studies of proteins typically aim at structure, dynamics or interactions, resonance assignments represent in almost all cases the initial step of the analysis. With increasing complexity of the NMR spectra, for example due to decreasing extent of ordered structure, this task often becomes both difficult and time-consuming, and the recording of high-dimensional data with high-resolution may be essential. Random sampling of the evolution time space, combined with sparse multidimensional Fourier transform (SMFT), allows for efficient recording of very high dimensional spectra (≥4 dimensions) while maintaining high resolution. However, the nature of this data demands for automation of the assignment process. Here we present the program TSAR (Tool for SMFT-based Assignment of Resonances), which exploits all advantages of SMFT input. Moreover, its flexibility allows to process data from any type of experiments that provide sequential connectivities. The algorithm was tested on several protein samples, including a disordered 81-residue fragment of the δ?subunit of RNA polymerase from Bacillus subtilis containing various repetitive sequences. For our test examples, TSAR achieves a high percentage of assigned residues without any erroneous assignments.     

A new strategy for backbone resonance assignment in large proteins using a MQ-HACACO experiment

A new strategy of backbone resonance assignment is proposed based on a combination of the most sensitive TROSY-type triple resonance experiments such as TROSY-HNCA and TROSY-HNCO with a new 3D multiple-quantum HACACO experiment. The favourable relaxation properties of the multiple-quantum coherences and signal detection using the ¹³C antiphase coherences optimize the performance of the proposed experiment for application to larger proteins. In addition to the ¹H^N, ¹⁵N,¹³C and ¹³C chemical shifts the 3D multiple-quantum HACACO experiment provides assignment for the ¹H resonances in constrast to previously proposed experiments for large proteins. The strategy is demonstrated with the 44 kDa uniformly ¹⁵N,¹³C-labeled and fractionally 35% deuterated trimeric B. subtilis Chorismate Mutase measured at 20°C and 9°C. Measurements at the lower temperature indicate that the new strategy can be applied to even larger proteins with molecular weights up to 80 kDa.     

Evaluation of an algorithm for the automated sequential assignment of protein backbone resonances: A demonstration of the connectivity tracing assignment tools (CONTRAST) software package

Summary The peptide sequential assignment algorithm presented here was implemented as a macro within the CONnectivity TRacing ASsignment Tools (CONTRAST) computer software package. The algorithm provides a semi- or fully automated global means of sequentially assigning the NMR backbone resonances of proteins. The program's performance is demonstrated here by its analysis of realistic computer-generated data for III^Glc, a 168-residue signal-transducing protein of Escherichia coli [Pelton et al. (1991) Biochemistry, 30, 10043–10057]. Missing experimental data (19 resonances) were generated so that a complete assignment set could be tested. The algorithm produces sequential assignments from appropriate peak lists of nD NMR data. It quantifies the ambiguity of each assignment and provides ranked alternatives. A best first approach, in which high-scoring local assignments are made before and in preference to lower scoring assignments, is shown to be superior (in terms of the current set of CONTRAST scoring routines) to approaches such as simulated annealing that seek to maximize the combined scores of the individual assignments. The robustness of the algorithm was tested by evaluating the effects of imposed frequency imprecision (scatter), added false signals (noise), missing peaks (incomplete data), and variation in userdefined tolerances on the performance of the algorithm.     

Sequence-specific NMR assignment of proteins by global fragment mapping with the program Mapper

A new program, Mapper, for semiautomatic sequence-specific NMR assignment in proteins is introduced. The program uses an input of short fragments of sequentially neighboring residues, which have been assembled based on sequential NMR connectivities and for which either the ¹³C and ¹³C chemical shifts or data on the amino acid type from other sources are known. Mapper then performs an exhaustive search for self-consistent simultaneous mappings of all these fragments onto the protein sequence. Compared to using only the individual mappings of the spectroscopically connected fragments, the global mapping adds a powerful new constraint, which results in resolving many otherwise intractable ambiguities. In an initial application, virtually complete sequence-specific assignments were obtained for a 110 kDa homooctameric protein, 7,8-dihydroneopterin aldolase from Staphylococcus aureus.