We describe the deposition of four datasets consisting of X-ray diffraction images acquired using serial femtosecond crystallography experiments on microcrystals of human G protein-coupled receptors, grown and delivered in lipidic cubic phase, at the Linac Coherent Light Source. The receptors are: the human serotonin receptor 2B in complex with an agonist ergotamine, the human δ-opioid receptor in complex with a bi-functional peptide ligand DIPP-NH2, the human smoothened receptor in complex with an antagonist cyclopamine, and finally the human angiotensin II type 1 receptor in complex with the selective antagonist ZD7155. All four datasets have been deposited, with minimal processing, in an HDF5-based file format, which can be used directly for crystallographic processing with CrystFEL or other software. We have provided processing scripts and supporting files for recent versions of CrystFEL, which can be used to validate the data.
The Smoothened receptor (SMO) belongs to the Class Frizzled of the G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) superfamily, constituting a key component of the Hedgehog signalling pathway. Here we report the crystal structure of the multi-domain human SMO, bound and stabilized by a designed tool ligand TC114, using an X-ray free-electron laser source at 2.9 Å. The structure reveals a precise arrangement of three distinct domains: a seven-transmembrane helices domain (TMD), a hinge domain (HD) and an intact extracellular cysteine-rich domain (CRD). This architecture enables allosteric interactions between the domains that are important for ligand recognition and receptor activation. By combining the structural data, molecular dynamics simulation, and hydrogen-deuterium-exchange analysis, we demonstrate that transmembrane helix VI, extracellular loop 3 and the HD play a central role in transmitting the signal employing a unique GPCR activation mechanism, distinct from other multi-domain GPCRs.
About 2.5 × 106 snapshots on microcrystals of photoactive yellow protein (PYP) from a recent serial femtosecond crystallographic (SFX) experiment were reanalyzed to maximum resolution. The resolution is pushed to 1.46 Å, and a PYP structural model is refined at that resolution. The result is compared to other PYP models determined at atomic resolution around 1 Å and better at the synchrotron. By comparing subtleties such as individual isotropic temperature factors and hydrogen bond lengths, we were able to assess the quality of the SFX data at that resolution. We also show that the determination of anisotropic temperature factor ellipsoids starts to become feasible with the SFX data at resolutions better than 1.5 Å.