GeNMR method (GEnerate NMR structures) is the first fully automated template-based method of protein structure determination that utilizes both NMR
chemical shift
In nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, the chemical shift is the resonant frequency of an atomic nucleus relative to a standard in a magnetic field. Often the position and number of chemical shifts are diagnostic of the structure o ...
s and
NOE -based distance restraints.
In addition to the template-based approach, the GeNMR webserver also offers an ''ab initio'' protein folding mode that starts folding from an extended structure. The GeNMR web server produces an ensemble of PDB coordinates within a period ranging from 20 minutes to 4 hours, depending on protein size, server load, quality and type of experimental information, and selected protocol options. GeNMR webserver is composed of two parts, a front-end web-interface (written in Perl and HTML) and a back-end consisting of eight different alignment, structure generation and structure optimization programs along with three local databases.
Input
GeNMR accepts and processes backbone and side chain 1H, 13C or 15N chemical shift data of almost any combination (HA only, HN only, HA+HN only, HA+HN+sidechain H, CA only, CA+CB only, CA+CO only, HA+CA+CB, HN+CA+CB, HN+15N only, HN,+15N+CA, HN+15N+CA+CB, etc.). This allows GeNMR to handle small peptides (where only H shifts are typically measured) to large proteins (where only N or C shifts might be available).
The input files must include chemical shift data in
NMR-STAR 2.1 format and distance restraints i
XPLORCNS
format
. The minimum sequence length is 30 residues.
Output
The output for a typical GeNMR structure calculation consists of a user-defined set of lowest energy PDB coordinates in a simple, downloadable text format. In addition, details about the overall energy score (prior to and following energy minimization) and chemical shift correlations (between the observed and calculated shifts) is provided at the top of the output page. If score failed to decrease below a certain threshold, a warning is printed at the top of the page.
Sub-programs
A flow chart describing the processing logic used in GeNMR is shown on the right. GeNMR makes use of a number of well-known programs and databases. These includ
Proteus2to perform structural modeling
PREDITORto calculate torsion angles from chemical shifts
PPT-DBfor comparative modeling and alignment and
CS23D to calculate protein structures from chemical shifts only. GeNMR also uses several well-known external programs, includin
Rosettafor ''ab initio'' folding without NOEs an
XPLOR-NIHfor NOE-based simulated annealing and refinement. A more complete list of GeNMR sub-programs is listed on the
CS23D page.
Homology modelling
GeNMR uses homology modeling and sequence/structure threading to rapidly generate a first-pass model of the query protein. The use of homology modeling/threading in GeNMR allows a considerable speed-up in its structure calculations since homology models can often be generated and refined in a minute or two.
Genetic algorithm
GeNMR also makes use of genetic algorithms to allow configurational sampling and structural refinement using non-differentiable scores, such as ShiftX chemical shift scores. GeNMR's genetic algorithm creates a population of initial structures and then uses combinations of mutations, cross-overs, segment swaps and writhe movements to comprehensively sample conformation space. The 25 lowest energy structures are then selected, duplicated and carried to the next round of conformational sampling.
Scoring functions
The potential functions used in GeNMR are derived from those used i
CS23Dan
Proteus2 The knowledge-based potentials include information on predicted/known secondary structure, radius of gyration, hydrogen bond energies, number of hydrogen bonds, allowed backbone and side chain torsion angles, atom contact radii (bump checks), disulfide bonding information and a modified threading energy based on th
Bryant and Lawrence potential The chemical shift component of the GeNMR potential uses weighted correlation coefficients calculated between the observed an
SHIFTXcalculated shifts of the structure being refined.
Calculation scenarios
There are six different kinds of calculation scenarios that GeNMR can currently accommodate. These scenarios include:
# chemical shift only—query has homologue in database;
# chemical shift only—query has no homologue in database;
# NOE only—query has homologue in database;
# NOE only—query has no homologue in database;
# NOE and chemical shift—query has homologue in database;
# NOE and chemical shift—query has no homologue in database.
See also
*
Chemical Shift
In nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, the chemical shift is the resonant frequency of an atomic nucleus relative to a standard in a magnetic field. Often the position and number of chemical shifts are diagnostic of the structure o ...
*
NMR
Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is a physical phenomenon in which nuclei in a strong constant magnetic field are perturbed by a weak oscillating magnetic field (in the near field) and respond by producing an electromagnetic signal with ...
*
Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy
Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, most commonly known as NMR spectroscopy or magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), is a spectroscopic technique to observe local magnetic fields around atomic nuclei. The sample is placed in a magnetic fie ...
*
Protein nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy of proteins (usually abbreviated protein NMR) is a field of structural biology in which NMR spectroscopy is used to obtain information about the structure and dynamics of proteins, and also nucleic acids, and ...
*
Protein dynamics#Domains and protein flexibility
*
Protein
Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, res ...
*
Random Coil Index
*
CS23D
*
Protein Chemical Shift Re-Referencing
*
Protein secondary structure
*
Protein Chemical Shift Prediction
*
Chemical shift index
*
Protein NMR Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy of proteins (usually abbreviated protein NMR) is a field of structural biology in which NMR spectroscopy is used to obtain information about the structure and dynamics of proteins, and also nucleic acids, and ...
*
ShiftX
*
Protein structure prediction
Protein structure prediction is the inference of the three-dimensional structure of a protein from its amino acid sequence—that is, the prediction of its secondary and tertiary structure from primary structure. Structure prediction is different ...
References
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