RECONSTRUCTION FROM HETEROGENEOUS MOLECULE POPULATIONS

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This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. ABSTRACT: This TRD addresses a problem that is paramount in cryo-EM single-particle reconstruction of macromolecules, and that is in many cases the single obstacle preventing the attainment of high resolution (better than 10 ¿). This problem is the heterogeneity of molecules in the sample due to partial ligand occupancy and conformational variability. We will develop general approaches for the classification of heterogeneous molecule populations from their cryo-EM projections, which will include both supervised and unsupervised classification methods. We will interact with leading experts in this field and use typical data both from the PIs group and from other groups pursuing single-particle reconstruction. Resulting software, if successful, will be made available to a wide community. Specific Aims 1. (Exploration phase): Explore methods of classification of single-particle projections that refine existing template-based approaches, or exploit general intrinsic mathematical relationships among projections of unchanged objects. In this phase of the project, algorithms such as self-organized (SOMs) will be designed, or the utility of existing ones explored. Phantom data sets are derived from existing density maps of molecules or from X-ray structures that present different conformations or states of ligand binding. Such maps are projected systematically into a variety of directions, the resulting projections are low-pass filtered and contaminated with noise. These data will allow a determination of which algorithm or which SOM configuration will perform best at different resolutions and signal-to-noise ratios. 2. (Testing phase): Test the resulting algorithms and SOMs on well-defined experimental cryo-EM data sets from single-particle projects that are conducted within and outside the Wadsworth Center. Ideally, these should be data that have been characterized in previous publications, so that the improvements due to the new classification approaches can be easily assessed. 3. (Dissemination phase): Integrate the software with existing SPIDER software and develop comprehensive documentation. Publication of the underlying concepts in explicit form will also allow other authors of software packages such as EMAN (Ludtke et al., 2001) to implement their own version, for wider dissemination.