Abstract

Isotopically labeled methyl groups provide NMR probes in large, otherwise deuterated proteins. However, the resonance assignment constitutes a bottleneck for broader applicability of methyl-based NMR. Here, we present the automated MethylFLYA method for the assignment of methyl groups that is based on methyl-methyl nuclear Overhauser effect spectroscopy (NOESY) peak lists. MethylFLYA is applied to five proteins (28–358 kDa) comprising a total of 708 isotope-labeled methyl groups, of which 612 contribute NOESY cross peaks. MethylFLYA confidently assigns 488 methyl groups, i.e. 80% of those with NOESY data. Of these, 459 agree with the reference, 6 were different, and 23 were without reference assignment. MethylFLYA assigns significantly more methyl groups than alternative algorithms, has an average error rate of 1%, modest runtimes of 0.4–1.2 h, and can handle arbitrary isotope labeling patterns and data from other types of NMR spectra.

Highlights

  • Labeled methyl groups provide NMR probes in large, otherwise deuterated proteins

  • MethylFLYA was applied to the five largest proteins of a benchmark data set that was originally prepared for evaluating the MAGMA algorithm for automated methyl assignment, as described in the original publication[32]

  • Methyl NMR data for the 20 kDa N-terminal domain of Heat Shock Protein 9038, which has been used previously with MAGMA, were used for evaluating MethylFLYA in combination with automated peak picking with CYPICK37

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Summary

Introduction

Labeled methyl groups provide NMR probes in large, otherwise deuterated proteins. For optimal gains in the signal enhancement and resolution of methyl-TROSY spectra, selectively protonated, 13C-labelled methyl groups are introduced into an otherwise highly deuterated background[9]. To this end, cost-effective and robust biosynthetic strategies have been established for the selective or simultaneous labelling of all methyl-containing amino acids in Escherichia coli[10,11]. The major bottleneck for NMR studies with selective methyllabeled proteins is the resonance assignment, i.e. relating 1H/13C signals in the NMR spectra to specific methyl groups in the protein (Fig. 1)[16]. For large proteins, backbone resonances and triple-resonance spectra cannot be observed, and, unless the protein is modified, only nuclear

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