Wolfram Saenger

Bio: Wolfram Saenger is an academic researcher from Free University of Berlin. The author has contributed to research in topics: Hydrogen bond & Crystal structure. The author has an hindex of 82, co-authored 630 publications receiving 40736 citations. Previous affiliations of Wolfram Saenger include Mukogawa Women's University & European Bioinformatics Institute.

Principles of Nucleic Acid Structure

Abstract: New textbooks at all levels of chemistry appear with great regularity. Some fields like basic biochemistry, organic reaction mechanisms, and chemical ther modynamics are well represented by many excellent texts, and new or revised editions are published sufficiently often to keep up with progress in research. However, some areas of chemistry, especially many of those taught at the grad uate level, suffer from a real lack of up-to-date textbooks. The most serious needs occur in fields that are rapidly changing. Textbooks in these subjects usually have to be written by scientists actually involved in the research which is advancing the field. It is not often easy to persuade such individuals to set time aside to help spread the knowledge they have accumulated. Our goal, in this series, is to pinpoint areas of chemistry where recent progress has outpaced what is covered in any available textbooks, and then seek out and persuade experts in these fields to produce relatively concise but instructive introductions to their fields. These should serve the needs of one semester or one quarter graduate courses in chemistry and biochemistry. In some cases the availability of texts in active research areas should help stimulate the creation of new courses. CHARLES R. CANTOR New York Preface This monograph is based on a review on polynucleotide structures written for a book series in 1976."

Hydrogen Bonding in Biological Structures

Abstract: IA Basic Concepts.- 1 The Importance of Hydrogen Bonds.- 1.1 Historical Perspective.- 1.2 The Importance of Hydrogen Bonds in Biological Structure and Function.- 1.3 The Role of the Water Molecules.- 1.4 Significance of Small Molecule Crystal Structural Studies.- 1.5 The Structural Approach.- 2 Definitions and Concepts.- 2.1 Definition of the Hydrogen Bond - Strong and Weak Bonds.- 2.2 Hydrogen-Bond Configurations: Two- and Three-Center Hydrogen Bonds Bifurcated and Tandem Bonds.- 2.3 Hydrogen Bonds Are Very Different from Covalent Bonds.- 2.4 The van der Waals Radii Cut-Off Criterion Is Not Useful.- 2.5 The Concept of the Hydrogen-Bond Structure.- 2.6 The Importance of ? and ? Cooperativity.- 2.7 Homo-, Anti- and Heterodromic Patterns.- 2.8 Hydrogen Bond Flip-Flop Disorder: Conformational and Configurational.- 2.9 Proton-Deficient Hydrogen Bonds.- 2.10 The Excluded Region.- 2.11 The Hydrophobic Effect.- 3 Experimental Studies of Hydrogen Bonding.- 3.1 Infrared Spectroscopy and Gas Electron Diffraction.- 3.2 X-Ray and Neutron Crystal Structure Analysis.- 3.3 Treatment of Hydrogen Atoms in Neutron Diffraction Studies.- 3.4 Charge Density and Hydrogen-Bond Energies.- 3.5 Neutron Powder Diffraction.- 3.6 Solid State NMR Spectroscopy.- 4 Theoretical Calculations of Hydrogen-Bond Geometries.- 4.1 Calculating Hydrogen-Bond Geometries.- 4.2 Ab-Initio Molecular Orbital Methods.- 4.3 Application to Hydrogen-Bonded Complexes.- 4.4 Semi-Empirical Molecular Orbital Methods.- 4.5 Empirical Force Field or Molecular Mechanics Methods.- 5 Effect of Hydrogen Bonding on Molecular Structure.- IB Hydrogen-Bond Geometry.- 6 The Importance of Small Molecule Structural Studies.- 6.1 Problems Associated with the Hydrogen-Bond Geometry.- 6.2 The Hydrogen Bond Can Be Described Statistically.- 6.3 The Problems of Measuring Hydrogen-Bond Lengths and Angles in Small Molecule Crystal Structures.- 7 Metrical Aspects of Two-Center Hydrogen Bonds.- 7.1 The Metrical Properties of O-H *** O Hydrogen Bonds.- 7.1.1 Very Strong and Strong OH *** O Hydrogen Bonds Occur with Oxyanions, Acid Salts, Acid Hydrates, and Carboxylic Acids.- 7.1.2 OH *** O Hydrogen Bonds in the Ices and High Hydrates.- 7.1.3 Carbohydrates Provide the Best Data for OH ... O Hydrogen Bonds: Evidence for the Cooperative Effect.- 7.2 N-H *** O Hydrogen Bonds.- 7.3 N-H *** N Hydrogen Bonds.- 7.4 O-H *** N Hydrogen Bonds.- 7.5 Sequences in Lengths of Two-Center Hydrogen Bonds.- 7.6 H/D Isotope Effect.- 8 Metrical Aspects of Three- and Four-Center Hydrogen Bonds.- 8.1 Three-Center Hydrogen Bonds.- 8.2 Four-Center Hydrogen Bonds.- 9 Intramolecular Hydrogen Bonds.- 10 Weak Hydrogen-Bonding Interactions Formed by C-H Groups as Donors and Aromatic Rings as Acceptors.- 11 Halides and Halogen Atoms as Hydrogen-Bond Acceptors.- 12 Hydrogen-Bond Acceptor Geometries.- II Hydrogen Bonding in Small Biological Molecules.- 13 Hydrogen Bonding in Carbohydrates.- 13.1 Sugar Alcohols (Alditols) as Model Cooperative Hydrogen-Bonded Structures.- 13.2 Influence of Hydrogen Bonding on Configuration and Conformation in Cyclic Monosaccharides.- 13.3 Rules to Describe Hydrogen-Bonding Patterns in Monosaccharides.- 13.4 The Water Molecules Link Hydrogen-Bond Chains into Nets in the Hydrated Monosaccharide Crystal Structures.- 13.5 The Disaccharide Crystal Structures Provide an Important Source of Data About Hydrogen-Bonding Patterns in Polysaccharides.- 13.6 Hydrogen Bonding in the Tri- and Tetrasaccharides Is More Complex and Less Well Defined.- 13.7 The Hydrogen Bonding in Polysaccharide Fiber Structures Is Poorly Defined.- 14 Hydrogen Bonding in Amino Acids and Peptides: Predominance of Zwitterions.- 15 Purines and Pyrimidines.- 15.1 Bases Are Planar and Each Contains Several Different Hydrogen-Bonding Donor and Acceptor Groups.- 15.2 Many Tautomeric Forms Are Feasible But Not Observed.- 15.3 ?-Bond Cooperativity Enhances Hydrogen-Bonding Forces.- 15.4 General, Non-Base-Pairing Hydrogen Bonds.- 16 Base Pairing in the Purine and Pyrimidine Crystal Structures.- 16.1 Base-Pair Configurations with Purine and Pyrimidine Homo-Association.- 16.2 Base-Pair Configurations with Purine-Pyrimidine Hetero-Association: the Watson-Crick Base-Pairs.- 16.3 Base Pairs Can Combine to Form Triplets and Quadruplets.- 17 Hydrogen Bonding in the Crystal Structures of the Nucleosides and Nucleotides.- 17.1 Conformational and Hydrogen-Bonding Characteristics of the Nucleosides and Nucleotides.- 17.2 A Selection of Cyclic Hydrogen-Bonding Patterns Formed in Nucleoside and Nucleotide Crystal Structures.- 17.3 General Hydrogen-Bonding Patterns in Nucleoside and Nucleotide Crystal Structures.- III Hydrogen Bonding in Biological Macromolecules.- 18 O-H *** O Hydrogen Bonding in Crystal Structures of Cyclic and Linear Oligoamyloses: Cyclodextrins, Maltotriose, and Maltohexaose.- 18.1 The Cyclodextrins and Their Inclusion Complexes.- 18.2 Crystal Packing Patterns of Cyclodextrins Are Determined by Hydrogen Bonding.- 18.3 Cyclodextrins as Model Compounds to Study Hydrogen-Bonding Networks.- 18.4 Cooperative, Homodromic, and Antidromic Hydrogen-Bonding Patterns in the ?-Cyclodextrin Hydrates.- 18.5 Homodromic and Antidromic O-H *** O Hydrogen-Bonding Systems Analyzed Theoretically.- 18.6 Intramolecular Hydrogen Bonds in the ?-Cyclodextrin Molecule are Variable - the Induced-Fit Hypothesis.- 18.7 Flip-Flop Hydrogen Bonds in ?-Cyclodextrin * 11 H2O.- 18.8 From Flip-Flop Disorder to Ordered Homodromic Arrangements at Low lbmperature: The Importance of the Cooperative Effect.- 18.9 Maltohexaose Polyiodide and Maltotriose - Double and Single Left-Handed Helices With and Without Intramolecular O(2) *** O(3?) Hydrogen Bonds.- 19 Hydrogen Bonding in Proteins.- 19.1 Geometry of Secondary-Structure Elements: Helix, Pleated Sheet, and Turn.- 19.2 Hydrogen-Bond Analysis in Protein Crystal Structures.- 19.3 Hydrogen-Bonding Patterns in the Secondary Structure Elements.- 19.4 Hydrogen-Bonding Patterns Involving Side-Chains.- 19.5 Internal Water Molecules as Integral Part of Protein Structures.- 19.6 Metrical Analysis of Hydrogen Bonds in Proteins.- 19.7 Nonsecondary-Structure Hydrogen-Bond Geometry Between Main-Chains, Side-Chains and Water Molecules.- 19.8 Three-Center (Bifurcated) Bonds in Proteins.- 19.9 Neutron Diffraction Studies on Proteins Give Insight into Local Hydrogen-Bonding Flexibility.- 19.10 Site-Directed Mutagenesis Gives New Insight into Protein Thermal Stability and Strength of Hydrogen Bonds.- 20 The Role of Hydrogen Bonding in the Structure and Function of the Nucleic Acids.- 20.1 Hydrogen Bonding in Nucleic Acids is Essential for Life.- 20.2 The Structure of DNA and RNA Double Helices is Determined by Watson-Crick Base-Pair Geometry.- 20.3 Systematic and Accidental Base-Pair Mismatches: "Wobbling" and Mutations.- 20.4 Noncomplementary Base Pairs Have a Structural Role in tRNA.- 20.5 Homopolynucleotide Complexes Are Stabilized by a Variety of Base-Base Hydrogen Bonds - Three-Center (Bifurcated) Hydrogen Bonds in A-Tracts.- 20.6 Specific Protein-Nucleic Acid Recognition Involves Hydrogen Bonding.- IV Hydrogen Bonding by the Water Molecule.- 21 Hydrogen-Bonding Patterns in Water, Ices, the Hydrate Inclusion Compounds, and the Hydrate Layer Structures.- 21.1 Liquid Water and the Ices.- 21.2 The Hydrate Inclusion Compounds.- 21.3 Hydrate Layer Structures.- 22 Hydrates of Small Biological Molecules: Carbohydrates, Amino Acids, Peptides, Purines, Pyrimidines, Nucleosides and Nucleotides.- 23 Hydration of Proteins.- 23.1 Characterization of "Bound Water" at Protein Surfaces - the First Hydration Shell.- 23.2 Sites of Hydration in Proteins.- 23.3 Metrics of Water Hydrogen Bonding to Proteins.- 23.4 Ordered Water Molecules at Protein Surfaces - Clusters and Pentagons.- 24 Hydration of Nucleic Acids.- 24.1 Two Water Layers Around the DNA Double Helix.- 24.2 Crystallographically Determined Hydration Sites in A-, B-, Z-DNA. A Statistical Analysis.- 24.3 Hydration Motifs in Double Helical Nucleic Acids.- 24.3.1 Sequence-Independent Motifs.- 24.3.2 Sequence-Dependent Motifs.- 24.4 DNA Hydration and Structural Transitions Are Correlated: Some Hypotheses.- 25 The Role of Three-Center Hydrogen Bonds in the Dynamics of Hydration and of Structure Transition.- References.- Refcodes.

Three-dimensional structure of cyanobacterial photosystem I at 2.5 Å resolution

Abstract: Life on Earth depends on photosynthesis, the conversion of light energy from the Sun to chemical energy. In plants, green algae and cyanobacteria, this process is driven by the cooperation of two large protein-cofactor complexes, photosystems I and II, which are located in the thylakoid photosynthetic membranes. The crystal structure of photosystem I from the thermophilic cyanobacterium Synechococcus elongatus described here provides a picture at atomic detail of 12 protein subunits and 127 cofactors comprising 96 chlorophylls, 2 phylloquinones, 3 Fe4S4 clusters, 22 carotenoids, 4 lipids, a putative Ca2+ ion and 201 water molecules. The structural information on the proteins and cofactors and their interactions provides a basis for understanding how the high efficiency of photosystem I in light capturing and electron transfer is achieved.

Crystal structure of photosystem II from Synechococcus elongatus at 3.8 A resolution.

Abstract: Oxygenic photosynthesis is the principal energy converter on earth. It is driven by photosystems I and II, two large protein-cofactor complexes located in the thylakoid membrane and acting in series. In photosystem II, water is oxidized; this event provides the overall process with the necessary electrons and protons, and the atmosphere with oxygen. To date, structural information on the architecture of the complex has been provided by electron microscopy of intact, active photosystem II at 15-30 A resolution, and by electron crystallography on two-dimensional crystals of D1-D2-CP47 photosystem II fragments without water oxidizing activity at 8 A resolution. Here we describe the X-ray structure of photosystem II on the basis of crystals fully active in water oxidation. The structure shows how protein subunits and cofactors are spatially organized. The larger subunits are assigned and the locations and orientations of the cofactors are defined. We also provide new information on the position, size and shape of the manganese cluster, which catalyzes water oxidation.

Cyclodextrin Inclusion Compounds in Research and Industry

Abstract: α-, β-, and γ-Cyclodextrins are cyclic oligosaccharides consisting of six, seven, or eight glucose units, which can be obtained on a large scale from starch. They form inclusion compounds with smaller molecules which fit into their 5—8 A cavity. These (crystalline) complexes are of interest for scientific research as, contrary to the classical clathrates, they exist in aqueous solution and can be used to study the hydrophobic interactions which are so important in biological systems. Cyclodextrins also serve as models both for polymeric starch and, in the form of their polyiodide complexes, for “blue iodine-starch”. As cyclodextrins catalyze several chemical reactions they and their functionalized derivatives provide useful enzyme models. Cyclodextrins can be used to advantage in the production of pharmaceuticals, pesticides, foodstuffs, and toilet articles—the (micro-encapsulated) active and aromatic substances enclosed within them are protected from the effects of light and atmosphere and can be easily handled and stored in powder from. Substances which are not very soluble in water become more soluble in the presence of cyclodextrins—creams and emulsions can be stabilized, and the growth and yield of grain harvests can be increased. Cyclodextrins can be chemically modified for many different purposes; polymerized cyclodextrin or cyclodextrin bound to a polymer carrier have already been employed in gel inclusion and affinity chromatography.

A Second Generation Force Field for the Simulation of Proteins, Nucleic Acids, and Organic Molecules

Abstract: We present the derivation of a new molecular mechanical force field for simulating the structures, conformational energies, and interaction energies of proteins, nucleic acids, and many related organic molecules in condensed phases. This effective two-body force field is the successor to the Weiner et al. force field and was developed with some of the same philosophies, such as the use of a simple diagonal potential function and electrostatic potential fit atom centered charges. The need for a 10-12 function for representing hydrogen bonds is no longer necessary due to the improved performance of the new charge model and new van der Waals parameters. These new charges are determined using a 6-31G* basis set and restrained electrostatic potential (RESP) fitting and have been shown to reproduce interaction energies, free energies of solvation, and conformational energies of simple small molecules to a good degree of accuracy. Furthermore, the new RESP charges exhibit less variability as a function of the molecular conformation used in the charge determination. The new van der Waals parameters have been derived from liquid simulations and include hydrogen parameters which take into account the effects of any geminal electronegative atoms. The bonded parameters developed by Weiner et al. were modified as necessary to reproduce experimental vibrational frequencies and structures. Most of the simple dihedral parameters have been retained from Weiner et al., but a complex set of 4 and yj parameters which do a good job of reproducing the energies of the low-energy conformations of glycyl and alanyl dipeptides has been developed for the peptide backbone.

Phd by thesis

Abstract: Deposits of clastic carbonate-dominated (calciclastic) sedimentary slope systems in the rock record have been identified mostly as linearly-consistent carbonate apron deposits, even though most ancient clastic carbonate slope deposits fit the submarine fan systems better. Calciclastic submarine fans are consequently rarely described and are poorly understood. Subsequently, very little is known especially in mud-dominated calciclastic submarine fan systems. Presented in this study are a sedimentological core and petrographic characterisation of samples from eleven boreholes from the Lower Carboniferous of Bowland Basin (Northwest England) that reveals a >250 m thick calciturbidite complex deposited in a calciclastic submarine fan setting. Seven facies are recognised from core and thin section characterisation and are grouped into three carbonate turbidite sequences. They include: 1) Calciturbidites, comprising mostly of highto low-density, wavy-laminated bioclast-rich facies; 2) low-density densite mudstones which are characterised by planar laminated and unlaminated muddominated facies; and 3) Calcidebrites which are muddy or hyper-concentrated debrisflow deposits occurring as poorly-sorted, chaotic, mud-supported floatstones. These

Chemistry with ADF

Abstract: We present the theoretical and technical foundations of the Amsterdam Density Functional (ADF) program with a survey of the characteristics of the code (numerical integration, density fitting for the Coulomb potential, and STO basis functions). Recent developments enhance the efficiency of ADF (e.g., parallelization, near order-N scaling, QM/MM) and its functionality (e.g., NMR chemical shifts, COSMO solvent effects, ZORA relativistic method, excitation energies, frequency-dependent (hyper)polarizabilities, atomic VDD charges). In the Applications section we discuss the physical model of the electronic structure and the chemical bond, i.e., the Kohn–Sham molecular orbital (MO) theory, and illustrate the power of the Kohn–Sham MO model in conjunction with the ADF-typical fragment approach to quantitatively understand and predict chemical phenomena. We review the “Activation-strain TS interaction” (ATS) model of chemical reactivity as a conceptual framework for understanding how activation barriers of various types of (competing) reaction mechanisms arise and how they may be controlled, for example, in organic chemistry or homogeneous catalysis. Finally, we include a brief discussion of exemplary applications in the field of biochemistry (structure and bonding of DNA) and of time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) to indicate how this development further reinforces the ADF tools for the analysis of chemical phenomena. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Comput Chem 22: 931–967, 2001

Powering the planet: Chemical challenges in solar energy utilization

Abstract: Global energy consumption is projected to increase, even in the face of substantial declines in energy intensity, at least 2-fold by midcentury relative to the present because of population and economic growth. This demand could be met, in principle, from fossil energy resources, particularly coal. However, the cumulative nature of CO2 emissions in the atmosphere demands that holding atmospheric CO2 levels to even twice their preanthropogenic values by midcentury will require invention, development, and deployment of schemes for carbon-neutral energy production on a scale commensurate with, or larger than, the entire present-day energy supply from all sources combined. Among renewable energy resources, solar energy is by far the largest exploitable resource, providing more energy in 1 hour to the earth than all of the energy consumed by humans in an entire year. In view of the intermittency of insolation, if solar energy is to be a major primary energy source, it must be stored and dispatched on demand to the end user. An especially attractive approach is to store solar-converted energy in the form of chemical bonds, i.e., in a photosynthetic process at a year-round average efficiency significantly higher than current plants or algae, to reduce land-area requirements. Scientific challenges involved with this process include schemes to capture and convert solar energy and then store the energy in the form of chemical bonds, producing oxygen from water and a reduced fuel such as hydrogen, methane, methanol, or other hydrocarbon species.

The weighted histogram analysis method for free-energy calculations on biomolecules. I: The method

Abstract: The Weighted Histogram Analysis Method (WHAM), an extension of Ferrenberg and Swendsen's Multiple Histogram Technique, has been applied for the first time on complex biomolecular Hamiltonians. The method is presented here as an extension of the Umbrella Sampling method for free-energy and Potential of Mean Force calculations. This algorithm possesses the following advantages over methods that are currently employed: (1) It provides a built-in estimate of sampling errors thereby yielding objective estimates of the optimal location and length of additional simulations needed to achieve a desired level of precision; (2) it yields the “best” value of free energies by taking into account all the simulations so as to minimize the statistical errors; (3) in addition to optimizing the links between simulations, it also allows multiple overlaps of probability distributions for obtaining better estimates of the free-energy differences. By recasting the Ferrenberg–Swendsen Multiple Histogram equations in a form suitable for molecular mechanics type Hamiltonians, we have demonstrated the feasibility and robustness of this method by applying it to a test problem of the generation of the Potential of Mean Force profile of the pseudorotation phase angle of the sugar ring in deoxyadenosine. © 1992 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.