Molecular replacement then and now
- Merck and Co. Inc, 2000 Galloping Hill Road, Kenilworth, NJ 07033 (United States)
A brief overview, with examples, of the evolution of molecular-replacement methods and models over the past few years is presented. The ‘phase problem’ in crystallography results from the inability to directly measure the phases of individual diffracted X-ray waves. While intensities are directly measured during data collection, phases must be obtained by other means. Several phasing methods are available (MIR, SAR, MAD, SAD and MR) and they all rely on the premise that phase information can be obtained if the positions of marker atoms in the unknown crystal structure are known. This paper is dedicated to the most popular phasing method, molecular replacement (MR), and represents a personal overview of the development, use and requirements of the methodology. The first description of noncrystallographic symmetry as a tool for structure determination was explained by Rossmann and Blow [Rossmann & Blow (1962 ▶), Acta Cryst.15, 24–31]. The term ‘molecular replacement’ was introduced as the name of a book in which the early papers were collected and briefly reviewed [Rossmann (1972 ▶), The Molecular Replacement Method. New York: Gordon & Breach]. Several programs have evolved from the original concept to allow faster and more sophisticated searches, including six-dimensional searches and brute-force approaches. While careful selection of the resolution range for the search and the quality of the data will greatly influence the outcome, the correct choice of the search model is probably still the main criterion to guarantee success in solving a structure using MR. Two of the main parameters used to define the ‘best’ search model are sequence identity (25% or more) and structural similarity. Another parameter that may often be undervalued is the quality of the probe: there is clearly a relationship between the quality and the correctness of the chosen probe and its usefulness as a search model. Efforts should be made by all structural biologists to ensure that their deposited structures, which are potential search probes for future systems, are of the best possible quality.
- OSTI ID:
- 22347839
- Journal Information:
- Acta Crystallographica. Section D: Biological Crystallography, Vol. 69, Issue Pt 11; Other Information: PMCID: PMC3817701; PMID: 24189239; PUBLISHER-ID: ba5202; OAI: oai:pubmedcentral.nih.gov:3817701; Copyright (c) Scapin 2013; This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original authors and source are cited.; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0907-4449
- Country of Publication:
- Denmark
- Language:
- English
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