Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Combining crystallography with quantum mechanics

Bergmann, Justin LU ; Oksanen, Esko LU and Ryde, Ulf LU orcid (2022) In Current Opinion in Structural Biology 72. p.18-26
Abstract

In standard crystallographic refinement of biomacromolecules, the crystallographic raw data are supplemented by empirical restraints that ensure that the structure makes chemical sense. These restraints are typically accurate for amino acids and nucleic acids, but less so for cofactors, substrates, inhibitors, ligands and metal sites. In quantum refinement, this potential is replaced by more accurate quantum mechanical (QM) calculations. Several implementations have been presented, differing in the level of QM and whether it is used for the entire structure or only for a site of particular interest. It has been shown that the method can improve and correct errors in crystal structures and that it can be used to determine protonation and... (More)

In standard crystallographic refinement of biomacromolecules, the crystallographic raw data are supplemented by empirical restraints that ensure that the structure makes chemical sense. These restraints are typically accurate for amino acids and nucleic acids, but less so for cofactors, substrates, inhibitors, ligands and metal sites. In quantum refinement, this potential is replaced by more accurate quantum mechanical (QM) calculations. Several implementations have been presented, differing in the level of QM and whether it is used for the entire structure or only for a site of particular interest. It has been shown that the method can improve and correct errors in crystal structures and that it can be used to determine protonation and tautomeric states of various ligands and to decide what is really seen in the structure by refining different interpretations and using standard crystallographic and QM quality measures to decide which fits the structure best.

(Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
ligand strain, protonation state, quantum refinement, tautomeric state, X-ray crystallography
in
Current Opinion in Structural Biology
volume
72
pages
9 pages
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • scopus:85112410211
  • pmid:34392061
ISSN
0959-440X
DOI
10.1016/j.sbi.2021.07.002
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
53b79956-18ed-4151-bd20-90af594f98f9
date added to LUP
2021-09-03 11:20:53
date last changed
2024-06-15 15:38:04
@article{53b79956-18ed-4151-bd20-90af594f98f9,
  abstract     = {{<p>In standard crystallographic refinement of biomacromolecules, the crystallographic raw data are supplemented by empirical restraints that ensure that the structure makes chemical sense. These restraints are typically accurate for amino acids and nucleic acids, but less so for cofactors, substrates, inhibitors, ligands and metal sites. In quantum refinement, this potential is replaced by more accurate quantum mechanical (QM) calculations. Several implementations have been presented, differing in the level of QM and whether it is used for the entire structure or only for a site of particular interest. It has been shown that the method can improve and correct errors in crystal structures and that it can be used to determine protonation and tautomeric states of various ligands and to decide what is really seen in the structure by refining different interpretations and using standard crystallographic and QM quality measures to decide which fits the structure best.</p>}},
  author       = {{Bergmann, Justin and Oksanen, Esko and Ryde, Ulf}},
  issn         = {{0959-440X}},
  keywords     = {{ligand strain; protonation state; quantum refinement; tautomeric state; X-ray crystallography}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{18--26}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Current Opinion in Structural Biology}},
  title        = {{Combining crystallography with quantum mechanics}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sbi.2021.07.002}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.sbi.2021.07.002}},
  volume       = {{72}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}