Informing saccharide structural NMR studies with density functional theory calculations.

Density functional theory (DFT) is a powerful computational tool to enable structural interpretations of NMR spin-spin coupling constants ( J-couplings) in saccharides, including the abundant (1)H-(1)H ( JHH), (13)C-(1)H ( JCH), and (13)C-(13)C ( JCC) values that exist for coupling pathways comprised of 1-4 bonds. The multiple hydroxyl groups in saccharides, with their attendant lone-pair orbitals, exert significant effects on J-couplings that can be difficult to decipher and quantify without input from theory. Oxygen substituent effects are configurational and conformational in origin (e.g., axial/equatorial orientation of an OH group in an aldopyranosyl ring; C-O bond conformation involving an exocyclic OH group). DFT studies shed light on these effects, and if conducted properly, yield quantitative relationships between a specific J-coupling and one or more conformational elements in the target molecule. These relationships assist studies of saccharide structure and conformation in solution, which are often challenged by the presence of conformational averaging. Redundant J-couplings, defined as an ensemble of J-couplings sensitive to the same conformational element, are particularly helpful when the element is flexible in solution (i.e., samples multiple conformational states on the NMR time scale), provided that algorithms are available to convert redundant J-values into meaningful conformational models. If the latter conversion is achievable, the data can serve as a means of testing, validating, and refining theoretical methods like molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, which are currently relied upon heavily to assign conformational models of saccharides in solution despite a paucity of experimental data needed to independently validate the method.

EUROCarbDB: An open-access platform for glycoinformatics.

The EUROCarbDB project is a design study for a technical framework, which provides sophisticated, freely accessible, open-source informatics tools and databases to support glycobiology and glycomic research. EUROCarbDB is a relational database containing glycan structures, their biological context and, when available, primary and interpreted analytical data from high-performance liquid chromatography, mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance experiments. Database content can be accessed via a web-based user interface. The database is complemented by a suite of glycoinformatics tools, specifically designed to assist the elucidation and submission of glycan structure and experimental data when used in conjunction with contemporary carbohydrate research workflows. All software tools and source code are licensed under the terms of the Lesser General Public License, and publicly contributed structures and data are freely accessible. The public test version of the web interface to the EUROCarbDB can be found at http://www.ebi.ac.uk/eurocarb.

Conformational flexibility and dynamics of two (1-->6)-linked disaccharides related to an oligosaccharide epitope expressed on malignant tumour cells.

The conformational flexibility and dynamics of two (1-->6)-linked disaccharides that are related to the action of the glycosyl transferase GnT-V have been investigated. NMR NOE and T-ROE spectroscopy experiments, conformation-dependent coupling constants and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were used in the analyses. To facilitate these studies, the compounds were synthesised as alpha-d-[6-(13)C]-Manp-OMe derivatives, which reduced the (1)H NMR spectral overlap and facilitated the determination of two- and three-bond (1)H,(1)H, (1)H,(13)C and (13)C,(13)C-coupling constants. The population distribution for the glycosidic omega torsion angle in alpha-d-Manp-(1-->6)-alpha-d-Manp-OMe for gt/gg/tg was equal to 45:50:5, whereas in alpha-d-Manp-OMe it was determined to be 56:36:8. The dynamic model that was generated for beta-d-GlcpNAc-(1-->6)-alpha-d-Manp-OMe by MD simulations employing the PARM22/SU01 CHARMM-based force field was in very good agreement with experimental observations. beta-d-GlcpNAc-(1-->6)-alpha-d-Manp-OMe is described by an equilibrium of populated states in which the phi torsion angle has the exo-anomeric conformation, the psi torsion angle an extended antiperiplanar conformation and the omega torsion angle a distribution of populations predominantly between the gauche-trans and the gauche-gauche conformational states (i.e., gt/gg/tg) is equal to 60:35:5, respectively. The use of site-specific (13)C labelling in these disaccharides leads to increased spectral dispersion, thereby making NMR spectroscopy based conformational analysis possible that otherwise might be difficult to attain.

Conformational analysis of beta-glycosidic linkages in 13C-labeled glucobiosides using inter-residue scalar coupling constants.

Four beta-linked glucobioses selectively (13)C labeled at C1' or C2' have been prepared. The inter-residue coupling constants, J(CH), and J(CC), have been determined and related to the solution conformations of the disaccharides using Karplus-type relationships. Relying only on the experimental coupling constants, glycosidic linkage conformation in methyl alpha-sophoroside (methyl 2-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-alpha-D-glucopyranoside), methyl alpha-laminarabioside (methyl 3-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-alpha-D-glucopyranoside), and methyl alpha-cellobioside (methyl 4-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-alpha-D-glucopyranoside) were found to be close to those observed in the solid state (39 degrees < phi(H) < 41 degrees , -24 degrees < psi(H) < -36 degrees ). The laminarabioside and cellobioside were found to have conformations that accommodate an intramolecular hydrogen bond to O5' that is observed in the solid state. In all compounds, the exocyclic hydroxymethyl groups retain a conformation close to that observed in unsubstituted glucose (gt/gg 1:1). Methyl alpha-gentiobioside (methyl 6-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-alpha-D-glucopyranoside) shows greater flexibility at the psi-torsion than the other disaccharides, but the population distribution around the C5-C6 bond is essentially unaffected by substitution. None of the O2' hydroxyl groups of the beta-D-glucopyranosyl residues in any of the disaccharides appear to be involved in inter-residue hydrogen bonding since (1)JCH, (1)JCC, and (2)JCH values sensitive to C2'-O2' rotamer distribution remain close to those observed in methyl beta-D-glucopyranoside.

GlyNest and CASPER: two independent approaches to estimate 1H and 13C NMR shifts of glycans available through a common web-interface.

GlyNest and CASPER (www.casper.organ.su.se/casper/) are two independent services aiming to predict (1)H- and (13)C-NMR chemical shifts of glycans. GlyNest estimates chemical shifts of glycans based on a spherical environment encoding scheme for each atom. CASPER is an increment rule-based approach which uses chemical shifts of the free reducing monosaccharides which are altered according to attached residues of an oligo- or polysaccharide sequence. Both services, which are located on separate, distributed, servers are now available through a common interface of the GLYCOSCIENCES.de portal (www.glycosciences.de). The predictive ability of both techniques was evaluated for a test set of 155 (13)C and 181 (1)H spectra of assigned glycan structures. The standard deviations between experimental and estimated shifts ((1)H; 0.081/0.102; (13)C 0.763/0.794; GlyNest/CASPER) are comparable for both methods and significantly better than procedures where stereochemistry is not encoded. The predictive ability of both approaches is in most cases sufficiently precise to be used for an automatic assignment of NMR-spectra. Since both procedures work efficiently and require computation times in the millisecond range on standard computers, they are well suited for the assignment of NMR spectra in high-throughput glycomics projects. The service is available at www.glycosciences.de/sweetdb/start.php?action=form_shift_estimation.

The structures of Escherichia coli O-polysaccharide antigens.

Escherichia coli is usually a non-pathogenic member of the human colonic flora. However, certain strains have acquired virulence factors and may cause a variety of infections in humans and in animals. There are three clinical syndromes caused by E. coli: (i) sepsis/meningitis; (ii) urinary tract infection and (iii) diarrhoea. Furthermore the E. coli causing diarrhoea is divided into different 'pathotypes' depending on the type of disease, i.e. (i) enterotoxigenic; (ii) enteropathogenic; (iii) enteroinvasive; (iv) enterohaemorrhagic; (v) enteroaggregative and (vi) diffusely adherent. The serotyping of E. coli based on the somatic (O), flagellar (H) and capsular polysaccharide antigens (K) is used in epidemiology. The different antigens may be unique for a particular serogroup or antigenic determinants may be shared, resulting in cross-reactions with other serogroups of E. coli or even with other members of the family Enterobacteriacea. To establish the uniqueness of a particular serogroup or to identify the presence of common epitopes, a database of the structures of O-antigenic polysaccharides has been created. The E. coli database (ECODAB) contains structures, nuclear magnetic resonance chemical shifts and to some extent cross-reactivity relationships. All fields are searchable. A ranking is produced based on similarity, which facilitates rapid identification of strains that are difficult to serotype (if known) based on classical agglutinating methods. In addition, results pertinent to the biosynthesis of the repeating units of O-antigens are discussed. The ECODAB is accessible to the scientific community at http://www.casper.organ.su.se/ECODAB/.

Sequence determination of oligosaccharides and regular polysaccharides using NMR spectroscopy and a novel Web-based version of the computer program CASPER.

A WWW-interface to a program for structure elucidation of oligo- and polysaccharides using NMR data, CASPER, is presented. The interface and the underlying program have been extensively tested using published data and it was able to simulate 13C NMR spectra of >200 structures with an average error of about 0.3 ppm/resonance. When applied to the repeating units of Escherichia coli O-antigens the published structures were found among the five highest ranked structures in 75% of the cases. The average deviation between calculated and experimental 13C chemical shifts was 0.45 ppm. Oligosaccharide spectra were calculated with even better accuracy (0.23 ppm/resonance) and the correct structure was ranked 1st or 2nd in all the cases examined. Additional NMR experiments that may be required to distinguish between candidate structures are aided by the assignments provided by the program. This computational approach is also suitable for use in structural confirmation of chemically or enzymatically synthesized oligosaccharides. The program is found at http://www.casper.organ.su.se/casper.

Structural analysis of the O-antigen polysaccharide from Escherichia coli O152.

The structure of the O-antigen polysaccharide (PS) from Escherichia coli O152 has been determined. Component analysis together with 1H, 13C and 31P NMR spectroscopy were used to elucidate the structure. Inter-residue correlations were determined by 1H,31P COSY, 1H,1H NOESY and 1H,13C heteronuclear multiple-bond correlation experiments. The PS is composed of pentasaccharide repeating units with the following structure: [structure: see text]. The structure is similar to that of the O-antigen polysaccharide from E. coli O173. The cross-reactivity between E. coli O152 and E. coli O3 may be explained by structural similarities in the branching region of their O-antigen polysaccharides.

Correlated C-C and C-O bond conformations in saccharide hydroxymethyl groups: parametrization and application of redundant 1H-1H, 13C-1H, and 13C-13C NMR J-couplings.

Methyl alpha- and beta-pyranosides of d-glucose and d-galactose 1-4 were prepared containing single sites of (13)C-enrichment at C4, C5, and C6 (12 compounds), and (1)H and (13)C[(1)H] NMR spectra were obtained to determine a complete set of J-couplings ((1)J, (2)J, and (3)J) involving the labeled carbon and nearby protons and carbons within the exocyclic hydroxymethyl group (CH(2)OH) of each compound. In parallel theoretical studies, the dependencies of (1)J, (2)J, and (3)J involving (1)H and (13)C on the C5-C6 (omega) and C6-O6 (theta;) torsion angles in aldohexopyranoside model compounds were computed using density functional theory (DFT) and a special basis set designed to reliably recover the Fermi contact contribution to the coupling. Complete hypersurfaces for (1)J(C5,C6), (2)J(C5,H6)(R), (2)J(C5,H6)(S), (2)J(C6,H5), (2)J(C4,C6), (3)J(C4,H6)(R), (3)J(C4,H6)(S), and (3)J(C6,H4), as well as (2)J(H6)(R)(,H6)(S), (3)J(H5,H6)(R), and (3)J(H5,H6)(S), were obtained and used to parametrize new equations correlating these couplings to omega and/or theta;. DFT-computed couplings were also tested for accuracy by measuring J-couplings in (13)C-labeled 4,6-O-ethylidene derivatives of d-glucose and d-galactose in which values of omega and theta; were constrained. Using a new computer program, Chymesa, designed to utilize multiple J-couplings sensitive to exocyclic CH(2)OH conformation, the ensemble of experimental couplings observed in 1-4 were analyzed to yield preferred rotamer populations about omega and theta;. Importantly, due to the sensitivity of some couplings, most notably (2)J(H6)(R)(,H6)(S), (2)J(C5,H6)(R), and (2)J(C5,H6)(S), to both omega and theta;, unique information on correlated conformation about both torsion angles was obtained. The latter treatment represents a means of evaluating correlated conformation in 1,6-linked oligosaccharides, since psi and theta; are redundant in these linkages. In the latter regard, multiple, redundant scalar couplings originating from both sides of the glycosidic linkage can be used collectively to evaluate conformational correlations between psi/theta; and C5-C6 bond rotamers.

Web resources for the carbohydrate chemist.

Bioinformatics has played a pivotal role in advancing genetics and protein sciences. The large amount of information generated by genomics, and now proteomics, has been a driving force. By comparison, glycobiology still generates small amounts of data. The need to organize our knowledge about carbohydrates is however growing constantly and has given rise to an increasing number of public databases and freely available tools. This review gives an overview of the carbohydrate-oriented resources currently available on the Internet. Many of the resources are seldom referred to in the literature and difficult to find, in part because of the constant flux of the net itself, but also because many efforts have been lead by a single individual. As the World Wide Web has matured the number of 'permanent' resources, maintained by organizations rather than individuals, has increased. In this paper, we present some of the more useful and accessible public tools and databases. There are also a few commercial initiatives but these have not been reviewed.

Methyl 2-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-alpha-L-rhamnopyranoside.

The overall conformation of the title compound, C(13)H(24)O(10), is described by the glycosidic torsion angles phi(H) (H1(g)[bond]C1(g)[bond]O2(r)[bond]C2(r)) and psi(H) (C1(g)[bond]O2(r)[bond]C2(r)[bond]H2(r)), which have values of 13.6 and 16.1 degrees, respectively. The former is significantly different from the value predicted by consideration of the exo-anomeric effect (phi(H) approximately 60 degrees ) and from that in solution (phi(H) approximately 50 degrees ), as determined previously by NMR spectroscopy. An intramolecular O3(r)[bond]H...O2(g) hydrogen bond may help to stabilize the conformation in the solid state. The orientation of the hydroxymethyl group of the glucose residue is gauche-gauche, with a torsion angle omega (O5(g)[bond]C5(g)[bond]C6(g)[bond]O6(g)) of -70.4 (4) degrees. Both pyranose rings are in their expected chair conformations, i.e. (4)C(1) for D-glucose and (1)C(4) for L-rhamnose.

Hydroxymethyl group conformation in saccharides: structural dependencies of (2)J(HH), (3)J(HH), and (1)J(CH) spin-spin coupling constants.

Experimental and theoretical methods have been used to correlate (2)J(HH) and (3)J(HH) values within the exocyclic hydroxymethyl groups (CH(2)OH) of saccharides with specific molecular parameters, and new equations are proposed to assist in the structural interpretation of these couplings. (3)J(HH) depends mainly on the C-C torsion angle (omega) as expected, and new Karplus equations derived from J-couplings computed from density functional theory (DFT) in a model aldopyranosyl ring are in excellent agreement with experimental values and with couplings predicted from a previously reported general Karplus equation. These results confirm the reliability of DFT-calculated (1)H-(1)H couplings in saccharides. (2)J(HH) values depend on both the C-C (omega) and C-O (theta) torsions. Knowledge of the former, which may be derived from other parameters (e.g., (3)J(HH)), allows theta to be evaluated indirectly from (2)J(HH). This latter approach complements more direct determinations of theta from (3)J(HCOH) and potentially extends these more conventional analyses to O-substituted systems lacking the hydroxyl proton. (1)J(CH) values within hydroxymethyl fragments were also examined and found to depend on r(CH), which is modulated by specific bond orientation and stereoelectronic factors. These latter factors could be largely, but not completely, accounted for by C-C and C-O torsional variables, leading to only semiquantitative treatments of these couplings (details discussed in the Supporting Information). New equations pertaining to (2)J(HH) and (3)J(HH) have been applied to the analysis of hydroxymethyl group J-couplings in several mono- and oligosaccharides, yielding information on C5-C6 and/or C6-O6 rotamer populations.