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Open Access
Abstract: Time-resolved serial femtosecond crystallography (tr-SFX) methods exploit slurries of crystalline samples that range in size from hundreds of nanometers to a few tens of micrometers, at near-physiological temperature and pressure, to generate atomic resolution models and probe authentic function with the same experiment. ‘Dynamic structural biology’ is often used to encompass the research philosophy and techniques. Reaction cycles for tr-SFX studies are initiated by photons or ligand addition/mixing strategies, wherein the latter are potentially generalizable across enzymology. Thus, dynamic structural biology often creates stop-motion molecular movies of macromolecular function. In metal-dependent systems, complementary spectroscopic information can also be collected from the same samples and X-ray pulses, which provides even more detailed mechanistic insights. These types of experimental data also complement quantum mechanical and classical dynamics numerical calculations. Correlated structural-functional results will yield more detailed mechanistic insights and will likely translate into better drugs and treatments impacting human health, and better catalysis for clean energy and agriculture.
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Dec 2020
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I04-Macromolecular Crystallography
I24-Microfocus Macromolecular Crystallography
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Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[14449, 16818]
Open Access
Abstract: In this article, a new approach to experimental phasing for macromolecular crystallography (MX) at synchrotrons is introduced and described for the first time. It makes use of automated robotics applied to a multi-crystal framework in which human intervention is reduced to a minimum. Hundreds of samples are automatically soaked in heavy-atom solutions, using a Labcyte Inc. Echo 550 Liquid Handler, in a highly controlled and optimized fashion in order to generate derivatized and isomorphous crystals. Partial data sets obtained on MX beamlines using an in situ setup for data collection are processed with the aim of producing good-quality anomalous signal leading to successful experimental phasing.
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Aug 2020
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Vivek
Srinivas
,
Rahul
Banerjee
,
Hugo
Lebrette
,
Jason C.
Jones
,
Oskar
Aurelius
,
In-sik
Kim
,
Cindy C.
Pham
,
Sheraz
Gul
,
Kyle
Sutherlin
,
Asmit
Bhowmick
,
Juliane
John
,
Esra
Bozkurt
,
Thomas
Fransson
,
Pierre
Aller
,
Agata
Butryn
,
Isabel
Bogacz
,
Philipp Stefan
Simon
,
Stephen
Keable
,
Alexander
Britz
,
Kensuke
Tono
,
Kyung-sook
Kim
,
Sang-youn
Park
,
Sang-jae
Lee
,
Jaehyun
Park
,
Roberto
Alonso-mori
,
Franklin
Fuller
,
Alexander
Batyuk
,
Aaron S.
Brewster
,
Uwe
Bergmann
,
Nicholas
Sauter
,
Allen M.
Orville
,
Vittal K.
Yachandra
,
Junko
Yano
,
John D.
Lipscomb
,
Jan F.
Kern
,
Martin
Högbom
Abstract: Soluble methane monooxygenase (sMMO) is a multicomponent metalloenzyme that catalyzes the conversion of methane to methanol at ambient temperature using a nonheme, oxygen-bridged dinuclear iron cluster in the active site. Structural changes in the hydroxylase component (sMMOH) containing the diiron cluster caused by complex formation with a regulatory component (MMOB) and by iron reduction are important for the regulation of O2 activation and substrate hydroxylation. Structural studies of metalloenzymes using traditional synchrotron-based X-ray crystallography are often complicated by partial X-ray-induced photoreduction of the metal center, thereby obviating determination of the structure of pure oxidation states. Here microcrystals of the sMMOH:MMOB complex from Methylosinus trichosporium OB3b were serially exposed to X-ray free electron laser (XFEL) pulses, where the ≦35 fs duration of exposure of an individual crystal yields diffraction data before photoreduction-induced structural changes can manifest. Merging diffraction patterns obtained from thousands of crystals generates radiation damage free, 1.95 Å resolution crystal structures for the fully oxidized and fully reduced states of the sMMOH:MMOB complex for the first time. The results provide new insight into the manner by which the diiron cluster and the active site environment are reorganized by the regulatory protein component in order to enhance the steps of oxygen activation and methane oxidation. This study also emphasizes the value of XFEL and serial femtosecond crystallography (SFX) methods for investigating the structures of metalloenzymes with radiation sensitive metal active sites.
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Jul 2020
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Mohamed
Ibrahim
,
Thomas
Fransson
,
Ruchira
Chatterjee
,
Mun Hon
Cheah
,
Rana
Hussein
,
Louise
Lassalle
,
Kyle D.
Sutherlin
,
Iris D.
Young
,
Franklin D.
Fuller
,
Sheraz
Gul
,
In-sik
Kim
,
Philipp S.
Simon
,
Casper
De Lichtenberg
,
Petko
Chernev
,
Isabel
Bogacz
,
Cindy C.
Pham
,
Allen M.
Orville
,
Nicholas
Saichek
,
Trent
Northen
,
Alexander
Batyuk
,
Sergio
Carbajo
,
Roberto
Alonso-mori
,
Kensuke
Tono
,
Shigeki
Owada
,
Asmit
Bhowmick
,
Robert
Bolotovsky
,
Derek
Mendez
,
Nigel W.
Moriarty
,
James M.
Holton
,
Holger
Dobbek
,
Aaron S.
Brewster
,
Paul D.
Adams
,
Nicholas K.
Sauter
,
Uwe
Bergmann
,
Athina
Zouni
,
Johannes
Messinger
,
Jan
Kern
,
Vittal K.
Yachandra
,
Junko
Yano
Open Access
Abstract: In oxygenic photosynthesis, light-driven oxidation of water to molecular oxygen is carried out by the oxygen-evolving complex (OEC) in photosystem II (PS II). Recently, we reported the room-temperature structures of PS II in the four (semi)stable S-states, S1, S2, S3, and S0, showing that a water molecule is inserted during the S2 → S3 transition, as a new bridging O(H)-ligand between Mn1 and Ca. To understand the sequence of events leading to the formation of this last stable intermediate state before O2 formation, we recorded diffraction and Mn X-ray emission spectroscopy (XES) data at several time points during the S2 → S3 transition. At the electron acceptor site, changes due to the two-electron redox chemistry at the quinones, QA and QB, are observed. At the donor site, tyrosine YZ and His190 H-bonded to it move by 50 µs after the second flash, and Glu189 moves away from Ca. This is followed by Mn1 and Mn4 moving apart, and the insertion of OX(H) at the open coordination site of Mn1. This water, possibly a ligand of Ca, could be supplied via a “water wheel”-like arrangement of five waters next to the OEC that is connected by a large channel to the bulk solvent. XES spectra show that Mn oxidation (τ of ∼350 µs) during the S2 → S3 transition mirrors the appearance of OX electron density. This indicates that the oxidation state change and the insertion of water as a bridging atom between Mn1 and Ca are highly correlated.
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May 2020
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I04-Macromolecular Crystallography
I24-Microfocus Macromolecular Crystallography
VMXi-Versatile Macromolecular Crystallography in situ
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Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[16818, 19737, 19485]
Open Access
Abstract: Cyclic guanosine 3′,5′‐monophosphate (cGMP) is an intracellular signaling molecule involved in many sensory and developmental processes. Synthesis of cGMP from GTP is catalyzed by guanylate cyclase (GC) in a reaction analogous to cAMP formation by adenylate cyclase (AC). Although detailed structural information is available on the catalytic region of nucleotidyl cyclases (NCs) in various states, these atomic models do not provide a sufficient explanation for the substrate selectivity between GC and AC family members. Detailed structural information on the GC domain in its active conformation is largely missing and no crystal structure of a GTP‐bound wild‐type GC domain has been published to date. Here, we describe the crystal structure of the catalytic domain of rhodopsin‐GC (RhGC) from Catenaria anguillulae in complex with GTP at 1.7 Å resolution. Our study reveals the organization of a eukaryotic GC domain in its active conformation. We observe that the binding mode of the substrate GTP is similar to that of AC–ATP interaction, although surprisingly not all of the interactions predicted to be responsible for base recognition are present. The structure provides insights into potential mechanisms of substrate discrimination and activity regulation that may be common to all class III purine NCs.
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Dec 2019
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I24-Microfocus Macromolecular Crystallography
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E. Sethe
Burgie
,
Jonathan A.
Clinger
,
Mitchell D.
Miller
,
Aaron S.
Brewster
,
Pierre
Aller
,
Agata
Butryn
,
Franklin D.
Fuller
,
Sheraz
Gul
,
Iris D.
Young
,
Cindy C.
Pham
,
In-sik
Kim
,
Asmit
Bhowmick
,
Lee J.
O’riordan
,
Kyle D.
Sutherlin
,
Joshua V.
Heinemann
,
Alexander
Batyuk
,
Roberto
Alonso-mori
,
Mark S.
Hunter
,
Jason E.
Koglin
,
Junko
Yano
,
Vittal K.
Yachandra
,
Nicholas K.
Sauter
,
Aina E.
Cohen
,
Jan
Kern
,
Allen M.
Orville
,
George N.
Phillips
,
Richard D.
Vierstra
Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[19458]
Open Access
Abstract: A major barrier to defining the structural intermediates that arise during the reversible photointerconversion of phytochromes between their biologically inactive and active states has been the lack of crystals that faithfully undergo this transition within the crystal lattice. Here, we describe a crystalline form of the cyclic GMP phosphodiesterases/adenylyl cyclase/FhlA (GAF) domain from the cyanobacteriochrome PixJ in Thermosynechococcus elongatus assembled with phycocyanobilin that permits reversible photoconversion between the blue light-absorbing Pb and green light-absorbing Pg states, as well as thermal reversion of Pg back to Pb. The X-ray crystallographic structure of Pb matches previous models, including autocatalytic conversion of phycocyanobilin to phycoviolobilin upon binding and its tandem thioether linkage to the GAF domain. Cryocrystallography at 150 K, which compared diffraction data from a single crystal as Pb or after irradiation with blue light, detected photoconversion product(s) based on Fobs − Fobs difference maps that were consistent with rotation of the bonds connecting pyrrole rings C and D. Further spectroscopic analyses showed that phycoviolobilin is susceptible to X-ray radiation damage, especially as Pg, during single-crystal X-ray diffraction analyses, which could complicate fine mapping of the various intermediate states. Fortunately, we found that PixJ crystals are amenable to serial femtosecond crystallography (SFX) analyses using X-ray free-electron lasers (XFELs). As proof of principle, we solved by room temperature SFX the GAF domain structure of Pb to 1.55-Å resolution, which was strongly congruent with synchrotron-based models. Analysis of these crystals by SFX should now enable structural characterization of the early events that drive phytochrome photoconversion.
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Dec 2019
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|
I24-Microfocus Macromolecular Crystallography
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Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[14493, 19458]
Open Access
Abstract: Efficient sample delivery is an essential aspect of serial crystallography at both synchrotrons and X-ray free-electron lasers. Rastering fixed target chips through the X-ray beam is an efficient method for serial delivery from the perspectives of both sample consumption and beam time usage. Here, an approach for loading fixed targets using acoustic drop ejection is presented that does not compromise crystal quality, can reduce sample consumption by more than an order of magnitude and allows serial diffraction to be collected from a larger proportion of the crystals in the slurry.
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Sep 2019
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Jan
Kern
,
Ruchira
Chatterjee
,
Iris D.
Young
,
Franklin D.
Fuller
,
Louise
Lassalle
,
Mohamed
Ibrahim
,
Sheraz
Gul
,
Thomas
Fransson
,
Aaron S.
Brewster
,
Roberto
Alonso-mori
,
Rana
Hussein
,
Miao
Zhang
,
Lacey
Douthit
,
Casper
De Lichtenberg
,
Mun Hon
Cheah
,
Dmitry
Shevela
,
Julia
Wersig
,
Ina
Seuffert
,
Dimosthenis
Sokaras
,
Ernest
Pastor
,
Clemens
Weninger
,
Thomas
Kroll
,
Raymond G.
Sierra
,
Pierre
Aller
,
Agata
Butryn
,
Allen M.
Orville
,
Mengning
Liang
,
Alexander
Batyuk
,
Jason E.
Koglin
,
Sergio
Carbajo
,
Sébastien
Boutet
,
Nigel W.
Moriarty
,
James M.
Holton
,
Holger
Dobbek
,
Paul D.
Adams
,
Uwe
Bergmann
,
Nicholas K.
Sauter
,
Athina
Zouni
,
Johannes
Messinger
,
Junko
Yano
,
Vittal K.
Yachandra
Abstract: Inspired by the period-four oscillation in flash-induced oxygen evolution of photosystem II discovered by Joliot in 1969, Kok performed additional experiments and proposed a five-state kinetic model for photosynthetic oxygen evolution, known as Kok’s S-state clock or cycle1,2. The model comprises four (meta)stable intermediates (S0, S1, S2 and S3) and one transient S4 state, which precedes dioxygen formation occurring in a concerted reaction from two water-derived oxygens bound at an oxo-bridged tetra manganese calcium (Mn4CaO5) cluster in the oxygen-evolving complex3,4,5,6,7. This reaction is coupled to the two-step reduction and protonation of the mobile plastoquinone QB at the acceptor side of PSII. Here, using serial femtosecond X-ray crystallography and simultaneous X-ray emission spectroscopy with multi-flash visible laser excitation at room temperature, we visualize all (meta)stable states of Kok’s cycle as high-resolution structures (2.04–2.08 Å). In addition, we report structures of two transient states at 150 and 400 µs, revealing notable structural changes including the binding of one additional ‘water’, Ox, during the S2→S3 state transition. Our results suggest that one water ligand to calcium (W3) is directly involved in substrate delivery. The binding of the additional oxygen Ox in the S3 state between Ca and Mn1 supports O–O bond formation mechanisms involving O5 as one substrate, where Ox is either the other substrate oxygen or is perfectly positioned to refill the O5 position during O2 release. Thus, our results exclude peroxo-bond formation in the S3 state, and the nucleophilic attack of W3 onto W2 is unlikely.
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Nov 2018
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I03-Macromolecular Crystallography
|
Max O.
Wiedorn
,
Dominik
Oberthuer
,
Richard
Bean
,
Robin
Schubert
,
Nadine
Werner
,
Brian
Abbey
,
Martin
Aepfelbacher
,
Luigi
Adriano
,
Aschkan
Allahgholi
,
Nasser
Al-qudami
,
Jakob
Andreasson
,
Steve
Aplin
,
Salah
Awel
,
Kartik
Ayyer
,
Saša
Bajt
,
Imrich
Barák
,
Sadia
Bari
,
Johan
Bielecki
,
Sabine
Botha
,
Djelloul
Boukhelef
,
Wolfgang
Brehm
,
Sandor
Brockhauser
,
Igor
Cheviakov
,
Matthew A.
Coleman
,
Francisco
Cruz-mazo
,
Cyril
Danilevski
,
Connie
Darmanin
,
R. Bruce
Doak
,
Martin
Domaracky
,
Katerina
Dörner
,
Yang
Du
,
Hans
Fangohr
,
Holger
Fleckenstein
,
Matthias
Frank
,
Petra
Fromme
,
Alfonso M.
Gañán-calvo
,
Yaroslav
Gevorkov
,
Klaus
Giewekemeyer
,
Helen Mary
Ginn
,
Heinz
Graafsma
,
Rita
Graceffa
,
Dominic
Greiffenberg
,
Lars
Gumprecht
,
Peter
Göttlicher
,
Janos
Hajdu
,
Steffen
Hauf
,
Michael
Heymann
,
Susannah
Holmes
,
Daniel A.
Horke
,
Mark S.
Hunter
,
Siegfried
Imlau
,
Alexander
Kaukher
,
Yoonhee
Kim
,
Alexander
Klyuev
,
Juraj
Knoška
,
Bostjan
Kobe
,
Manuela
Kuhn
,
Christopher
Kupitz
,
Jochen
Küpper
,
Janine Mia
Lahey-rudolph
,
Torsten
Laurus
,
Karoline
Le Cong
,
Romain
Letrun
,
P. Lourdu
Xavier
,
Luis
Maia
,
Filipe R. N. C.
Maia
,
Valerio
Mariani
,
Marc
Messerschmidt
,
Markus
Metz
,
Davide
Mezza
,
Thomas
Michelat
,
Grant
Mills
,
Diana C. F.
Monteiro
,
Andrew
Morgan
,
Kerstin
Mühlig
,
Anna
Munke
,
Astrid
Münnich
,
Julia
Nette
,
Keith A.
Nugent
,
Theresa
Nuguid
,
Allen M.
Orville
,
Suraj
Pandey
,
Gisel
Pena
,
Pablo
Villanueva-perez
,
Jennifer
Poehlsen
,
Gianpietro
Previtali
,
Lars
Redecke
,
Winnie Maria
Riekehr
,
Holger
Rohde
,
Adam
Round
,
Tatiana
Safenreiter
,
Iosifina
Sarrou
,
Tokushi
Sato
,
Marius
Schmidt
,
Bernd
Schmitt
,
Robert
Schönherr
,
Joachim
Schulz
,
Jonas A.
Sellberg
,
M. Marvin
Seibert
,
Carolin
Seuring
,
Megan L.
Shelby
,
Robert L.
Shoeman
,
Marcin
Sikorski
,
Alessandro
Silenzi
,
Claudiu A.
Stan
,
Xintian
Shi
,
Stephan
Stern
,
Jola
Sztuk-dambietz
,
Janusz
Szuba
,
Aleksandra
Tolstikova
,
Martin
Trebbin
,
Ulrich
Trunk
,
Patrik
Vagovic
,
Thomas
Ve
,
Britta
Weinhausen
,
Thomas A.
White
,
Krzysztof
Wrona
,
Chen
Xu
,
Oleksandr
Yefanov
,
Nadia
Zatsepin
,
Jiaguo
Zhang
,
Markus
Perbandt
,
Adrian P.
Mancuso
,
Christian
Betzel
,
Henry
Chapman
,
Anton
Barty
Open Access
Abstract: The new European X-ray Free-Electron Laser is the first X-ray free-electron laser capable of delivering X-ray pulses with a megahertz inter-pulse spacing, more than four orders of magnitude higher than previously possible. However, to date, it has been unclear whether it would indeed be possible to measure high-quality diffraction data at megahertz pulse repetition rates. Here, we show that high-quality structures can indeed be obtained using currently available operating conditions at the European XFEL. We present two complete data sets, one from the well-known model system lysozyme and the other from a so far unknown complex of a β-lactamase from K. pneumoniae involved in antibiotic resistance. This result opens up megahertz serial femtosecond crystallography (SFX) as a tool for reliable structure determination, substrate screening and the efficient measurement of the evolution and dynamics of molecular structures using megahertz repetition rate pulses available at this new class of X-ray laser source.
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Oct 2018
|
|
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Open Access
Abstract: A recent paper in BMC Biology presents a general method for mix-and-inject serial crystallography, to facilitate the visualization of enzyme intermediates via time-resolved serial femtosecond crystallography (tr-SFX). They apply their method to resolve in near atomic detail the cleavage and inactivation of the antibiotic ceftriaxone by a β-lactamase enzyme from Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Their work demonstrates the general applicability of time-resolved crystallography, from which dynamic structures, at atomic resolution, can be obtained.
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May 2018
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