Biomedical subjects

Airlie J McCoy

Publications and source records attributed to Airlie J McCoy.

12 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Solving structures of protein complexes by molecular replacement with Phaser.

Molecular replacement (MR) generally becomes more difficult as the number of components in the asymmetric unit requiring separate MR models (i.e. the dimensionality of the search) increases. When the proportion of the total scattering contributed by each search component is small, the signal in the search for each component in isolation is weak or non-existent. Maximum-likelihood MR functions enable complex asymmetric units to be built up from individual components with a ;tree search with pruning' approach. This method, as implemented in the automated search procedure of the program Phaser, has been very successful in solving many previously intractable MR problems. However, there are a number of cases in which the automated search procedure of Phaser is suboptimal or encounters difficulties. These include cases where there are a large number of copies of the same component in the asymmetric unit or where the components of the asymmetric unit have greatly varying B factors. Two case studies are presented to illustrate how Phaser can be used to best advantage in the standard ;automated MR' mode and two case studies are used to show how to modify the automated search strategy for problematic cases.

Algorithms↗

PubMed2006

Crystal structure of rab11 in complex with rab11 family interacting protein 2.

The small GTPase Rab11 regulates the recycling of endosomes to the plasma membrane via interactions with the Rab11 family of interacting proteins (FIPs). FIPs contain a highly conserved Rab binding domain (RBD) at their C termini whose structure is unknown. Here, we have determined the crystal structure of the RBD of FIP2 in complex with Rab11(GTP) by single wavelength anomalous diffraction methods. The overall structure is a heterotetramer with dyad symmetry, arranged as a Rab11-(FIP2)2-Rab11 complex. FIP2 forms a central alpha-helical coiled coil, with both helices contributing to the Rab11 binding patch on equivalent and opposite sides of the homodimer. Switch 1 of Rab11 is embedded between the two helices, while switch 2 remains flexible and is peripherally associated with the effector. The complex reveals the structural basis for Rab11 recognition by FIPs and suggests the molecular mechanisms underlying endocytic recycling pathways.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed2005

Likelihood-enhanced fast translation functions.

This paper is a companion to a recent paper on fast rotation functions [Storoni et al. (2004), Acta Cryst. D60, 432-438], which showed how a Taylor-series expansion of the maximum-likelihood rotation function leads to improved likelihood-enhanced fast rotation functions. In a similar manner, it is shown here how linear and quadratic Taylor-series expansions and least-squares approximations of the maximum-likelihood translation function lead to likelihood-enhanced translation functions, which can be calculated by FFT and which are more sensitive to the correct translation than the traditional correlation-coefficient fast translation function. These likelihood-enhanced translation targets for molecular-replacement searches have been implemented in the program Phaser using the Computational Crystallography Toolbox (cctbx).

Bacterial Proteins↗

PubMed2004

Liking likelihood.

Maximum-likelihood methods have now been applied to most areas of macromolecular crystallography, including data reduction, molecular replacement, experimental phasing and refinement. However, students of macromolecular crystallography are predominantly taught only traditional crystallographic methods and therefore have little understanding of the methods underlying the modern software that they routinely use in structure determination. This situation arises, at least in part, because maximum likelihood is considered to be too difficult to be taught to students who lack substantial mathematical training within the limited time frame of undergraduate/graduate courses. A method of introducing maximum-likelihood concepts with the help of dice is described here and it is then shown how these concepts can form the core of understanding maximum-likelihood refinement, molecular replacement and experimental phasing. Within the framework described, the crystallographic maximum-likelihood techniques are all reduced to the same basic concepts and become easier and less time-consuming to teach than traditional methods, which rely on disparate concepts.

Algorithms↗

PubMed2004

Simple algorithm for a maximum-likelihood SAD function.

Recently, the multivariate complex normal distribution has been used to develop a maximum-likelihood probability function for single-wavelength anomalous diffraction phasing and refinement of heavy-atom parameters [Pannu & Read (2004), Acta Cryst. D60, 22-27]. The function accounts explicitly for the correlations between the observed and calculated Friedel mates and their errors. However, the method of derivation of the equation described by Pannu & Read (2004) leads to a complicated likelihood expression that suffers from a number of algorithmic limitations. Here, an alternative derivation of the P(SAD) function is described that leads to simplified algorithmic requirements and that allows an intuitive understanding of the expression.

Algorithms↗

PubMed2004

Likelihood-enhanced fast rotation functions.

Experiences with the molecular-replacement program Beast have shown that maximum-likelihood rotation targets are more sensitive to the correct orientation than traditional targets. However, this comes at a high computational cost: brute-force rotation searches can take hours or even days of computation time on current desktop computers. Series approximations to the full likelihood target have been developed that can be computed by fast Fourier transforms in minutes. These likelihood-enhanced targets are more sensitive to the correct orientation than the Crowther fast rotation function and they take advantage of information from partial solutions. The likelihood-enhanced rotation targets have been implemented in the program Phaser.

Algorithms↗

PubMed2003

Recent developments in the PHENIX software for automated crystallographic structure determination.

A new software system called PHENIX (Python-based Hierarchical ENvironment for Integrated Xtallography) is being developed for the automation of crystallographic structure solution. This will provide the necessary algorithms to proceed from reduced intensity data to a refined molecular model, and facilitate structure solution for both the novice and expert crystallographer. Here, the features of PHENIXare reviewed and the recent advances in infrastructure and algorithms are briefly described.

Algorithms↗

PubMed2003

Application of the complex multivariate normal distribution to crystallographic methods with insights into multiple isomorphous replacement phasing.

Probabilistic methods involving maximum-likelihood parameter estimation have become a powerful tool in computational crystallography. At the centre of these methods are the relevant probability distributions. Here, equations are developed based on the complex multivariate normal distribution that generalize the distributions currently used in maximum-likelihood model and heavy-atom refinement. In this treatment, the effects of various sources of error in the experiment are considered separately and allowance is made for correlations among sources of error. The multivariate distributions presented are closely related to the distributions previously derived in ab initio phasing and can be applied to many different aspects of a crystallographic structure-determination process including model refinement, density modification, heavy-atom phasing and refinement or combinations of them. The underlying probability distributions for multiple isomorphous replacement are re-examined using these techniques. The re-analysis requires the underlying assumptions to be made explicitly and results in a variance term that, unlike those previously used for maximum-likelihood multiple isomorphous replacement phasing, is expressed explicitly in terms of structure-factor covariances. Test cases presented show that the newly derived multiple isomorphous replacement likelihood functions perform satisfactorily compared with currently used programs.

Crystallography, X-Ray↗

PubMed2003

Structure of beta-antithrombin and the effect of glycosylation on antithrombin's heparin affinity and activity.

Antithrombin is a member of the serpin family of protease inhibitors and the major inhibitor of the blood coagulation cascade. It is unique amongst the serpins in that it circulates in a conformation that is inactive against its target proteases. Activation of antithrombin is brought about by a conformational change initiated upon binding heparin or heparan sulphate. Two isoforms exist in the circulation, alpha-antithrombin and beta-antithrombin, which differ in the amount of glycosylation present on the polypeptide chain; beta-antithrombin lacks the carbohydrate present at Asn135 in alpha-antithrombin. Of the two forms, beta-antithrombin has the higher affinity for heparin and thus functions as the major inhibitor in vivo even though it is the less abundant form. The reason for the differences in heparin affinity between the alpha and beta-forms have been shown to be due to the additional carbohydrate changing the rate of the conformational change. Here, we describe the most accurate structures of alpha-antithrombin and alpha-antithrombin+heparin pentasaccharide reported to date (2.6A and 2.9A resolution, respectively, both re-refinements using old data), and the structure of beta-antithrombin (2.6A resolution). The new structures have a remarkable degree of ordered carbohydrate and include parts of the antithrombin chain not modeled before. The structures have allowed a detailed comparison of the conformational differences between the three. They show that the structural basis of the lower affinity for heparin of alpha-antithrombin over beta-antithrombin is due to the conformational change that occurs upon heparin binding being sterically hindered by the presence of the additional bulky carbohydrate at Asn135.

Antithrombins↗

PubMed2002

PHENIX: building new software for automated crystallographic structure determination.

Structural genomics seeks to expand rapidly the number of protein structures in order to extract the maximum amount of information from genomic sequence databases. The advent of several large-scale projects worldwide leads to many new challenges in the field of crystallographic macromolecular structure determination. A novel software package called PHENIX (Python-based Hierarchical ENvironment for Integrated Xtallography) is therefore being developed. This new software will provide the necessary algorithms to proceed from reduced intensity data to a refined molecular model and to facilitate structure solution for both the novice and expert crystallographer.

Algorithms↗

PubMed2002

Molecular architecture and functional model of the endocytic AP2 complex.

AP2 is the best-characterized member of the family of heterotetrameric clathrin adaptor complexes that play pivotal roles in many vesicle trafficking pathways within the cell. AP2 functions in clathrin-mediated endocytosis, the process whereby cargo enters the endosomal system from the plasma membrane. We describe the structure of the 200 kDa AP2 "core" (alpha trunk, beta2 trunk, mu2, and sigma2) complexed with the polyphosphatidylinositol headgroup mimic inositolhexakisphosphate at 2.6 A resolution. Two potential polyphosphatidylinositide binding sites are observed, one on alpha and one on mu2. The binding site for Yxxphi endocytic motifs is buried, indicating that a conformational change, probably triggered by phosphorylation in the disordered mu2 linker, is necessary to allow Yxxphi motif binding. A model for AP2 recruitment and activation is proposed.

Adaptor Protein Complex 1↗

PubMed2002

New applications of maximum likelihood and Bayesian statistics in macromolecular crystallography.

Maximum likelihood methods are well known to macromolecular crystallographers as the methods of choice for isomorphous phasing and structure refinement. Recently, the use of maximum likelihood and Bayesian statistics has extended to the areas of molecular replacement and density modification, placing these methods on a stronger statistical foundation and making them more accurate and effective.

Bayes Theorem↗