Two strains of the parvovirus minute virus of mice (MVM), the immunosuppressive (MVMi) and the prototype (MVMp) strains, display disparate in vitro tropism and in vivo pathogenicity. We report the crystal structures of MVMp virus-like particles (MVMp b ) and native wild-type (wt) empty capsids (MVMp e ), determined and refined to 3.25 and 3.75 Å resolution, respectively, and their comparison to the structure of MVMi, also refined to 3.5 Å resolution in this study. A comparison of the MVMp b and MVMp e capsids showed their structures to be the same, providing structural verification that some heterologously expressed parvovirus capsids are indistinguishable from wt capsids produced in host cells. The structures of MVMi and MVMp capsids were almost identical, but local surface conformational differences clustered from symmetry-related capsid proteins at three specific domains: (i) the icosahedral fivefold axis, (ii) the "shoulder" of the protrusion at the icosahedral threefold axis, and (iii) the area surrounding the depression at the icosahedral twofold axis. The latter two domains contain important determinants of MVM in vitro tropism (residues 317 and 321) and forward mutation residues (residues 399, 460, 553, and 558) conferring fibrotropism on MVMi. Furthermore, these structural differences between the MVM strains colocalize with tropism and pathogenicity determinants mapped for other autonomous parvovirus capsids, highlighting the importance of common parvovirus capsid regions in the control of virus-host interactions.

The VP-2 major capsid protein of the prototype strain of the parvovirus minute virus of mice (MVMp) was expressed, using a baculovirus vector, in Sf9 insect cells. Immunogold electron microscopy of infected Sf9 cells showed VP-2 localized in the nucleus and cytoplasm as is observed in mammalian cells during natural infections. The VP-2 subunits self-assembled into empty parvovirus-like particles (VLPs), which appeared morphologically similar to and immunogenically indistinguishable from native empty MVMp particles, which also contain the minor capsid protein, VP1. Incubations under different pH and temperature conditions showed that the MVMp VLPs and native empty MVMp capsids share comparable stability. Once heated the particles can be similarly and specifically cleaved by trypsin at the VP-2 N-terminal domain. This process mimics the further maturation of the "rat-like" parvovirus virions, following viral DNA encapsidation, indicating that biologically relevant features of the MVMp capsid are maintained in the VLPs. Crystals have been obtained for the MVMp VLPs which were isomorphous to those used for the high-resolution structure determination of virions and native empty particles of the immunosuppressive strain of MVM (MVMi). The VLP crystals diffracted X rays to beyond 3-A resolution and are in space group C2 (a = 448.7, b = 416.6, c = 306.1 A, and beta = 95.9 degrees ). This is the first report of crystals from parvoviral particles produced in a heterologous system diffracting X rays to high resolution, indicating that VP-2 of some parvovirus capsids can self-assemble into ordered T = 1 icosahedral capsids in the absence of other viral and host cell functions.

Keywords: Ab initio calculations / Crystal structure / FT-ICR basicity / Tautomerism / 1,2,3-TriazolesThe gas-phase and aqueous basicities of six 1,2,3-triazoles have been determined, the former by FT-ICR and the latter by spectrophotometry and 1 H NMR. The gas-phase experiments agree very well with the Gibbs free energies calculated at the B3LYP/6-31G* level. In contrast, only semiquantitative ascertainments are possible when basicities in the gas phase and in solution are compared. It is possible, with the aid of calculations, to obtain a complete picture of the complex equilibria involved in C-substituted N-H-1,2,3-tria-

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The secondary structure of 1H-unsubstituted pyrazole derivatives bearing only one hydrogen donor group and one or more acceptor groups has been analyzed in terms of some descriptors representing the substituents at C3 and C5. The substituent at C4 appears to affect mainly the tertiary or quaternary structure of these compounds. The proposed semi-quantitative model, which explains most hydrogen-bonded motifs as a combination of the effects of substituents at C3 and C5, has also been examined as a function of the steric and polarizability effects of these substituents represented by molar refractivity. The model also applies to other five-membered rings (1,2,4-triazoles, 1,2,4-diazaphospholes and 1,2, 4-diazaarsoles). Furthermore, ab initio calculations at RHF/6-31G* have been performed to discover the relative stability of three of the four hydrogen-bond patterns displayed by several symmetrical pyrazoles (dimers, trimers, tetramers). The fourth motif, catemers, has only been discussed geometrically.

Theoretical calculations up to MP216-3 1G** with BSSE correction are carried out on a series of A-Ha-H-B dihydrogen bonds (A = B, Li, Be; B = N, C). Classical hydrogen bonds (HBs) (A-H-B) where A and B are heteroatoms (generally F, 0 and N atoms)' have been generalized in three ways: HBs with unconventional donors (C-H);2-4 HBs with unconventional acceptors (n-bonded functional groups,3 Cl,5 F,6 C atoms7), and much more daring, dihydrogen bonds A-H-..H-B (designated DHB).8,9Crabtree and co-workers8 reported 26 intermolecular DHBs of the type B-H-m-H-N with dHH < 2.2 8, in 18 X-ray crystal structures from the Cambridge Structural Database (CSD);lO in most cases, the N-H bonds correspond to N+-H groups. These authors have studied the system (H3BNH3)2 at the PCI-8O/B3LYP level, finding that the Mulliken charges on the hydrogen involved in the DHB were +0.27 and -0.09 e for N-H and B-H respectively. Epstein and co-workers experimentally addressed the problem of intermolecular DHBs in solution.9We report here a computational approach and the experimental verification of other DHBs. We started from the simple idea that these situations require two hydrogen atoms with opposite charges. Following Crabtree and Siegbahn, we will use as criteria to establish the existence of a DHB the interaction energy

Water molecules confined inside narrow pores are of great importance in understanding the structure, stability, and function of water channels. Here we report that besides the H-bonding water that structures the pore, the permanent presence of a significant, fast-moving fraction of incompletely H-bonded water molecules inside the pore should control the free entry and exit of water. This is achieved by means of complementary DSC and solid-state NMR studies. We also present compelling evidence from X-ray diffraction data that the cluster formed by six water molecules in the most stable cage-like structure is sufficiently hydrophobic to be stably adsorbed in a nonpolar environment.

Using high-resolution solid-state (15)N CMAS NMR, X-ray crystallography, and ab initio calculations, we have studied the structure of solid pyrazole-4-carboxylic acid (1). The crystal structure was determined at 295 and 150 K. Molecules of 1 are located on a two-fold axis, implying proton disorder of the NH and OH groups; no phase transition was observed between these two temperatures. The compound forms quasi-linear ribbons in which the molecules are linked by cyclic hydrogen bonds between pyrazole and carboxylic acid groups with disordered hydrogen-bonded protons. Crystallography is unable to decide whether the disorder is dynamic or static. NMR shows that this disorder is dynamic, that is, consisting of very fast degenerate double proton transfers between two rapidly interconverting O-H.N and O.H-N hydrogen bridges. However, at low temperature, NMR shows a proton disorder-order transition where the protons are preferentially localized on given nitrogen and oxygen atoms. An amorphous phase exhibiting proton order is observed when the compound is precipitated rapidly. In this case, the defects are annealed by moderate heating. Ab initio calculations performed on oligomers of 1 show that the O-H.N hydrogen bridge is about 0.064 A shorter and less bent ( approximately 171 degrees ) than the O.H-N hydrogen bridge ( approximately 150 degrees ). For an isolated ribbon, this result leads to structures with localized protons, either to a cycle with about 200 molecules, or to a quasi-linear ribbon involving an undulated structure, or to a combination of both motifs. Only the undulated structure is compatible with the linear ribbon observed by X-ray crystallography, where the fast proton transfer in the high-temperature phase is assisted by the motions of the undulated chain. A disordered structure is assigned to the amorphous phase, which exhibits the combination of the curved and the undulated motifs.