Welcome: an Introduction to this Site
NMRPipe: a Comprehensive Software System for Biomolecular NMR
Special Applications: NMR Drug Screening, Automation, and so on
Dipolar Couplings, Chemical Shifts, and Protein Structure
Miscellaneous
Frank's CV, Recent Slides, and Thesis

 

 

 

  Frank Delaglio, Ph.D.

  Software Science Consultant
  13840 Grey Colt Drive
  North Potomac MD 20878 USA


  Tel: 301 806-0867
  Fax: 301 309-8717
  E-mail: delaglio@nmrscience.com


Special Applications: 1D and 2D NMR Drug Screening, Automation, and so on ...



Conventional 1D Overlay 1D Overlay with Difference
Shaded 1D Difference 1D Difference with Internal Shading
Special Display Modes for 1D Difference Spectroscopy

The conventional method for 1D difference spectroscopy is to display two spectra in overlay along with the difference spectrum, each drawn in different colors. This is a useful display mode, but it can be problematic. For example, it can be hard to read such a plot in regions where the height of the difference spectrum happens to be at about the same height as one of the two target spectra. Furthermore, since the difference spectrum can be both positive and negative, even when the target spectra are all-positive, different vertical display scaling may be required to view the entire of range difference spectrum; this makes it less convenient to toggle display of a difference spectrum on and off. And, including display of a difference spectrum can be especially confusing in cases where more than two spectra are being compared.

We have created options for 1D spectral and difference shading to provide an alternative for displaying difference data. This simple but effective method is inspired by the examples of William Playfair (1759 - 1823) who is often considered as the inventor of statistical graphics; one example of his work is shown here at lower left, as highlighted in the books of Edward Tufte. In our implementation of this internal shaded difference mode, the spaces between two spectra which are being compared are shaded in different colors according to whether the first spectrum is greater than or less than the second. As an added benefit, support for this new 1D display mode also provides speed enhancements to ordinary 1D drawing, since the amount of graphics transmitted to the screen corresponds strictly to the screen dimensions in pixels (~1000) rather than the number of points in the spectrum (~30,000).

playfair_graph

Display and Multivariate Navigation for Large Numbers of 1D Spectra

The PANDAS graphical interface provides a convenient way to browse and inspect large numbers of related 1D spectra, with options to overlay arbitrary numbers of spectra, perform automated rescaling to minimize differences between related spectra, and to visualize differences in shaded form.

The WAMPAS Scatterplot Interface serves as a navigator for large numbers of related spectra. Each label in the scatterplot represents a 1D spectrum, and these labels can be selected interactively to toggle a given spectrum's display on and off in the overlay plot. The scatterplot itself is derived from Principal Component Analysis of the spectral series, which groups spectra according to the degree of similarity in their intensities.

PANDAS Spectral Display WAMPAS Spectral Display WAMPAS Multivariate Spectral Navigator

Scan File System for Spectral Data, Automated 1D Batch Processing and STD Analysis

The selNMR graphical interface automatically scans directories for spectral data, and extracts and displays the spectral parameters so that data can be selected on the basis of experiment type, size, dimensionality, etc. Spectral data selected by selNMR can then be directed to other applications such as ezProc1D for selection of batch processing parameters, with automated phase correction and PostScript plot generation. There are also specific tools for automated 1D STD (Saturation Transfer Difference) analysis, including adaptive rescaling, and generation of STD PostScript plots which summarize the STD values for each peak and for the overall spectrum.
selNMR: Scan File System for NMR Data ezProc1D: Automated 1D Batch Processing Automated Plot Generation Automated 1D STD Analysis

2D HSQC Screening, Multivariate Analysis, and Chemical Shift Titration

Many applications of 1D and 2D NMR spectral series analysis have found use in the drug design and evaluation process. In particular, the elegant approach of Fesik and coworkers to use protein 2D HSQC perturbation screening as part of a comprehensive scheme for drug design is now well known (Shuker et al., 1996). NMRPipe facilities have been used to create special applications to address a variety of HSQC analysis tasks. Some of the applications are suitable for any collection of related HSQC spectra acquired with similar parameters, and can be used with collections of several spectra or several hundred. Other applications are intended primarily for HSQC chemical shift titration series.

Extraction of Chemical Shift Evolution Automated Fitting of Chemical Shift Evolution Interactive Fitting of Chemical Shift Evolution HSQC Series Analysis: Spectra of Aggregated Samples (red) HSQC Series Analysis: Spectral with pH Effects (magenta) HSQC Series Analysis: Spectra with Additional Scans (green) HSQC Analysis: Spectra with Specific Binding Mode (blue)

The AutoProc application automatically processes a related series of HSQC spectra, with automatic phase correction of the directly-detected dimension. It uses as input a list of the spectra to be processed, and a representative NMRPipe conversion script for any one of the individual spectra in the series.

The TitrView application follows the change in position of one or more peaks in a spectral series. The results are summarized in a single table. As such, TitrView is a complement to PCAView, which does not use peak table information. Facilities are provided for automated peak picking of the series, automated tracking of each peak's position, and interactive adjustment of the results, to insert, move or delete peaks. In the TitrView graphical interface, the initial results are found automatically, and confirmed and adjusted interactively. In the display, a given row follows the evolution of a peak's position over the series, as indicated by cursor lines; the first entry in each row shows the given region drawn in overlay for all spectra in the series.

The ModelTitr application is intended specifically for ligand titration series. It provides a method for estimating dissociation constants (Kd) for ligand binding to individual residues in the target protein according to the 1H or 15N chemical shift evolutions in the HSQC titration series (Zhou et al., 1996; Johnson et al., 1996). ModelTitr fits each peak position evolution curve to estimate a dissociation constant Kd for the corresponding residue. The application uses the results of TitrView as its input, and works non-interactively. The results for each curve are summarized in PostScript plots. Either HN, 15N or a weighted combination of the two types of shifts can be analyzed. The ShowTitr application is an on-screen interactive alternative to ModelTitr. The ShowTitr graphical interface can step through and display the individual evolution curves, and apply fitting routines to selected curves via the script fitXY.tcl. The application uses the results of TitrView as its input. As with modelTitr, either HN, 15N, or a weighted combination of the two types of shifts can be analyzed.

The PCAView application is a unique approach to spectral series analysis that allows an entire spectral series to be summarized and evaluated graphically, without the need for peak picking. Instead, the complete matrix of intensities for each spectrum is used directly, and spectra are clustered according to how similar their overall collection of intensities are. The clustering is performed interactively by inspecting the results of Principal Component Analysis (PCA). As a qualitative screening technique, this method has been used to highlight cases where spectral perturbations are due to nonspecific effects such as pH, to reveal cases where meaningful changes to spectra have occurred, and to identify different modes of binding. (Ross et al., 1999). The PCA technique can also find use in other types of spectral series analysis, including 1D metabolite screening of biofluids. Because the PCA method does not require peak analysis, it can be quick and effective even in cases where the HSQC spectra are typically not fully resolved.

Multivariate Representations and Principal Component Analysis

The PCAView application makes use of a direct multivariate approach, where an entire spectrum is represented as a single object in a multidimensional space. The coordinates of that object are simply the intensities at each point of the spectrum. There are some useful properties of this representation. For example:

  • Similar spectra will cluster together in the same region of the multidimensional space, since their intensities (i.e. their multivariate coordinates) are similar.
  • Spectra with similar features but differing intensity will cluster along lines and curves in the multidimensional space. This is because they will have some intensities in common, and some others which vary continuously.
  • Weaker spectra will cluster nearer to the origin of the multivariate space than more intense spectra.
The multivariate space can be visualized by projecting it onto a smaller number of dimensions, by the method of Principal Component Analysis (PCA). A given principal component points in the direction of maximum variance in the data. The PCAView application implements the method of Ross and coworkers for analyzing HSQC drug screening series (Shuker et. al., 1996) by Principal Component Analysis (PCA) (Ross et al., 2000). The application uses multivariate statistics to provide a graphical summary of the similarities and differences in a collection of related spectra, in this case a series of automatically processed HSQC spectra of roughly 200 samples of a target protein mixed with various small molecules. Each number in the scatter plot at lower left of the PCAView graphical interface represents an entire HSQC spectrum in the series. The distance between entries in the scatter plot relates to the degree of similarity between spectra. The spectral window on the right of the graphical interface allows one or more spectra or regions from the series to be viewed in overlay.

In the examples shown above, the classes have already been interactively selected and colored after inspection. The yellow cluster reveals the bulk of spectra, which are mostly unchanged. The green cluster is a subgroup of spectra, which were acquired with experimental conditions which make them more intense than the others. The spectra in the red cluster are all exceptionally weak; the protein in these samples has aggregated. The magenta cluster reveals samples that have undergone extensive pH changes, resulting in systematic elimination of certain peaks. The blue cluster reveals spectra with collections of peaks which have moved systematically, indicating that binding has occurred.

References

Johnson, P.E., Tomme, P., Joshi, M.D., and McIntosh, L.P., (1996) Biochemistry, 35, 13895-13906.
Ross, A., Schlotterbeck, G., Klaus, W., and Senn, H. (2000) J. Biomol. NMR, 16, 139-146.
Shuker, S.B, Hajduk, P.J., Meadows, R.P., and Fesik, S.W. (1996) Science, 274, 1531-1534.
Zhou M., Harlan J.E., Wade, W.S., Crosby, S., Ravichandran, K.S., Burakoof, S.J. and Fesik, S,W. (1996) J. Biol. Chem., 271, 31119-31123.


jPhysChemCover_tn jPhysChemCover_tn NMRPipe Used in a Scheme to Render 3D Spectral Graphics in a Virtual Reality Environment

In a project with Prof. Peter Chen of Spelman College, tools of NMRPipe were adapted to analyze and display new types of 2D optical spectra. Prof. Chen was invited to describe his novel spectroscopic methods in a feature article for the Journal of Physical Chemistry. As an interesting alternative to conventional scientific graphic tools to generate an illustration for the Journal cover, we used facilities of NMRPipe to help export and render the spectroscopic data in the virtual reality environment Second Life.


A Prototype Application for Real-Time Hyperspectral Imaging

This illustration is a prototype software application for real-time Hyper-Spectral Imaging (HSI), here displaying a spectral image consisting of 126 image planes, each measured at a different wavelength. The application allows the image planes from the HSI data cube to be scanned and displayed in real-time via a slider, and for spectra to be extracted in real-time by dragging the mouse pointer over the image plane. The three images at the left show the results of a Principal Component Analysis (PCA), along with the corresponding spectral profiles. The first component image, top right, provides a kind of average brightness image which has better clarity than any individual HSI image plane. The second component image, center right, clearly shows one finger darkened, a result of reduced blood flow from the rubber band around it. The third component image, bottom right, highlights the rubber band itself. These three images represent the majority of information in the 126- image series; in an HSI acquisition application, the corresponding three spectral profiles would be used to illuminate the sample for subsequent real-time HSI imaging. Image data courtesy of Dr. Karel Zuzak.


A Prototype Application: Measuring Distances and Angles on Medical Images

This illustrates a proof-of-concept application for distance and angle measurement over a series of related medical images. In this case, Hip-Knee Angles (HKA) which were previously measured on one large piece of conventional X-ray film, now had to be measured accurately over a series of three smaller digital X-ray plates. The specifications also anticipated use of graphical templates for fitting of prosthesis. Image data courtesy of Dr. Hans Grahn.

A Custom Application: Display and Multivariate Analysis of 3D Spectral Image Data

In this example, each pixel of the image consists of a 1D spectrum; in this case an infrared (IR) spectrum of dye-labeled cells taken with a Fourier-transform IR microscope. A conventional microscopic image at a single given frequency is unrevealing, however a principal component composite image clearly differentiates between types of cells. This graphical interface was part of an overall application for automated conversion, Fourier transform, and background correction of IR spectral image data.


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last updated: Aug 12, 2011 / big frank

Contact site designer mimi at mdelaglio@hotmail.com