The structure analyses of orthorhombic lysozyme grown at pH 6.5 and its low-humidity variant are reported. The structures of the same form grown at pH 9.5 and 4.5 and that of the low-humidity variant of the pH 9.5 form are available. A comparison between them shows that the changes in molecular geometry and hydration caused by changes in the amount of solvent surrounding protein molecules are more pronounced than those caused by variation in pH. In particular, the conformation and the mutual orientation of the catalytic residues Glu35 and Asp52 remain unaffected by change in pH. A comparative study involving 20 crystallographically independent lysozyme molecules, including five in the orthorhombic form, leads to the delineation of the relatively rigid, moderately flexible and highly flexible regions of the molecule. Half the binding cleft (subsites D, E and F) belong to the rigid region but the other half (subsites A, B and C) belong to a flexible region. There is no marked correlation between relative rigidity and conservation of side-chain conformation except at the binding site. The study permits the identification of seven invariant water molecules associated with the protein. Most of them are involved in important tertiary interactions, while one occurs in the active-site cleft. The study demonstrates a weak correlation between non-accessibility and rigidity. On average, the level of hydration of polar atoms increases rapidly with accessible atomic surface area, but levels off at about 15 A(2) at a little over one ordered water molecule per polar protein atom. Only 15 N and O atoms are hydrated in all 20 molecules. 13 of these are hydrated by the seven invariant water molecules. Of the seven, only one water molecule is totally buried within the protein.

The structures of orthorhombic lysozyme grown at basic pH and its low-humidity variant have been solved and refined at 1.9 and 2.0 A resolution, respectively. A comparison of the native structure with those of crystals grown at acidic pH does not show any systematic pH-dependent difference in the molecular geometry. The conformations, mutual orientation and interactions of the catalytic residues Glu35 and Asp52 also remain unchanged. However, comparison between the native and low-humidity forms in the orthorhombic form show that the changes in molecular geometry which accompany the water-mediated transformation to the low-humidity form are more pronounced in the C-terminal residues than in the other regions of the molecule. During the transformation from the native to the low-humidity form, the locations of only about half the water molecules in the hydration shell remain unchanged, but the hydration shell as a whole moves along with the protein molecule.

Earlier studies involving water-mediated transformations in lysozyme and ribonuclease A have shown that the overall movements in the protein molecule consequent to the reduction in the amount of surrounding water are similar to those that occur during enzyme action, thus highlighting the relationship among hydration, plasticity, and action of these enzymes. Monoclinic lysozyme retains its crystallinity even when the level of hydration is reduced further below that necessary for activity (about 0.2 gram of water per gram of protein). In order to gain insights into the role of water in the stability and the plasticity of the protein molecule and the geometrical basis for the loss of activity that accompanies dehydration, the crystal structures of monoclinic lysozyme with solvent contents of 17.6%, 16.9%, and 9.4% were determined and refined. A detailed comparison of these forms with the normally hydrated forms show that the C-terminal segment (residues 88-129) of domain I and the main loop (residues 65-73) in domain II exhibit large deviations in atomic positions when the solvent content is reduced, although the three-dimensional structure is essentially preserved. Many crucial water bridges between different regions of the molecule are conserved in spite of differences in detail, even when the level of hydration is reduced well below that required for activity. The loss of activity that accompany dehydration appears to be caused by the removal of functionally important water molecules from the active-site region and the reduction in the size of the substrate binding cleft, Proteins 32:229-240, 1998. (C) 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc.