Volume 55, Issue 52 pp. 15990-16010
Review

Deriving Structural Information from Experimentally Measured Data on Biomolecules

Wilfred F. van Gunsteren

Corresponding Author

Wilfred F. van Gunsteren

Laboratory of Physical Chemistry, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, ETH, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland

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Jane R. Allison

Jane R. Allison

Centre for Theor. Chem. and Phys. & Institute of Natural and Mathematical Sciences, Massey Univ., Auckland, New Zealand

Biomolecular Interaction Centre, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand

Maurice Wilkins Centre for Molecular Biodiscovery, New Zealand

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Xavier Daura

Xavier Daura

Institute of Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), 08193 Barcelona, Spain

Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA), 08010 Barcelona, Spain

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Jožica Dolenc

Jožica Dolenc

Laboratory of Physical Chemistry, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, ETH, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland

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Niels Hansen

Niels Hansen

Institute of Thermodynamics and Thermal Process Engineering, University of Stuttgart, Pfaffenwaldring 9, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany

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Alan E. Mark

Alan E. Mark

School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD 4072 Australia

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Chris Oostenbrink

Chris Oostenbrink

Institute of Molecular Modeling and Simulation, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria

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Victor H. Rusu

Victor H. Rusu

Laboratory of Physical Chemistry, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, ETH, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland

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Lorna J. Smith

Lorna J. Smith

Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3QR UK

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First published: 08 November 2016
Citations: 32

Graphical Abstract

Making the right choice: Deriving structural information from experimentally measured data is a process beset with theoretical and practical problems. The effects of the various assumptions and approximations involved in the process of biomolecular structure determination are discussed and a list of choices to be avoided is provided.

Abstract

During the past half century, the number and accuracy of experimental techniques that can deliver values of observables for biomolecular systems have been steadily increasing. The conversion of a measured value Qexp of an observable quantity Q into structural information is, however, a task beset with theoretical and practical problems: 1) insufficient or inaccurate values of Qexp, 2) inaccuracies in the function urn:x-wiley:14337851:media:anie201601828:anie201601828-math-0001 used to relate the quantity Q to structure urn:x-wiley:14337851:media:anie201601828:anie201601828-math-0002 , 3) how to account for the averaging inherent in the measurement of Qexp, 4) how to handle the possible multiple-valuedness of the inverse urn:x-wiley:14337851:media:anie201601828:anie201601828-math-0003 of the function urn:x-wiley:14337851:media:anie201601828:anie201601828-math-0004 , to mention a few. These apply to a variety of observable quantities Q and measurement techniques such as X-ray and neutron diffraction, small-angle and wide-angle X-ray scattering, free-electron laser imaging, cryo-electron microscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance, electron paramagnetic resonance, infrared and Raman spectroscopy, circular dichroism, Förster resonance energy transfer, atomic force microscopy and ion-mobility mass spectrometry. The process of deriving structural information from measured data is reviewed with an eye to non-experts and newcomers in the field using examples from the literature of the effect of the various choices and approximations involved in the process. A list of choices to be avoided is provided.

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