title: The statistical conformation of a highly flexible protein: small-angle X-ray scattering of S. aureus protein A.
abstract: Staphylococcal protein A (SpA) is a multidomain protein consisting of five globular IgG binding domains separated by a conserved six- to nine-residue flexible linker. We collected SAXS data on the N-terminal protein-binding half of SpA (SpA-N) and constructs consisting of one to five domain modules in order to determine statistical conformation of this important S. aureus virulence factor. We fit the SAXS data to a scattering function based on a new polymer physics model, which provides an analytical description of the SpA-N statistical conformation. We describe a protocol for systematically determining the appropriate level of modeling to fit a SAXS data set based on goodness of fit and whether the addition of parameters improves it. In the case of SpA-N, the analytical polymer physics description provides a depiction of the statistical conformation of a flexible protein that, while lacking atomistic detail, properly reflects the information content of the data.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC 27710, USA.
authors.forename: Jo A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Capp
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC 27710, USA.
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hagarman
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC 27710, USA.
authors.forename: David C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Richardson
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC 27710, USA. Electronic address: oas@duke.edu.
authors.forename: Terrence G
authors.initials: TG
authors.lastname: Oas
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008967:Molecular Biology / Q000379:methods*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011487:Protein Conformation; D053838:Scattering, Small Angle; D013205:Staphylococcal Protein A / Q000737:chemistry*; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D013205:Staphylococcal Protein A
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