Description

phenix.varref stands for 'variability refinement'. The program refines a model into an ensemble of maps derived from cryo-EM. The ensemble of maps represents the sample's heterogenicity captured during the experiment. The inputs are typically the refined model against the consensus high-resolution map, and the map series derived from 3DVA (cryosparc), or multibody refinement (Relion) or equivalent. The result of refinement with phenix.varref is an ensemble of real-space refined models that adequately represents the ensemble of input maps. For more details refer to: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bbamem.2023.184133.

Availability

The program is available in the command line and in the GUI.

Contact

For questions, bug reports, feature requests: help@phenix-online.org

IMPORTANT: any problem report should be sent after trying the latest nightly build of Phenix:

https://www.phenix-online.org/download/nightly_builds.cgi

Bug or problem reports should include at least 1) all input files used to run the program, 2) list of parameters that were customized, 3) error message and 4) a brief description of steps that lead to the problem. Please use file sharing tools (such as Dropbox, Google Drive, etc) to send large files. All files sent to us are handled confidentially and only used to solve the reported issue, and discarded afterwards.

Command line examples

1. A typical run:

   phenix.varref model.pdb map1.mrc map2.mrc... mapN.mrc resolution=4.2 \
   nproc=10 models_per_map=50
   

   The program takes one model and list of maps in any order. The resolution is a mandatory parameter. nproc specifies the number of processors available to the program to use. A run using a single processor can take a very long time! Use as many CPU as possible! models_per_map specifies the size of the ensemble to be refined against each individual map. The output ensemble accumulates overall best refined models taken from ensembles of models refined against each individual map.

2. The model contains an unknown to Phenix ligand:

   phenix.varref model.pdb ligand.cif map1.mrc map2.mrc... mapN.mrc \
   resolution=4.2 nproc=10 models_per_map=50
   

   The ligand dictionary CIF file can be obtained using ReadySet! or eLBOW programs of Phenix and supplied to phenix.varref as an additional file.

3. Anchoring solvent, ligands and other small molecules to the macromolecule:

   phenix.varref model.pdb map1.mrc map2.mrc... mapN.mrc resolution=4.2 \
   nproc=10 models_per_map=50 parameters.eff
   

   phenix.varref uses a rather aggressive refinement technique such as morphing, simulated annealing and perturbing initial model by means of MD. This means that small molecule (non-macromolecules) entities of the model may drift away from their original position or binding sites. To prevent this from happening they can be anchored to the macromolecule using custom bonds (as well as angles and so on). Refer to phenix.refine documentation for more details. In the example above this is done by providing a parameter file containing the following lines:

   geometry_restraints {
     edits {
       bond {
         atom_selection_1 = chain B and resseq 87 and name N
         atom_selection_2 = chain S and resseq 1 and resname HOH and name O
         distance_ideal = 2.0
         sigma = 0.01
       }
     }
   }
   

   Here the water oxygen in chain S (residue number 1) is linked to the Nitrogen of residue 87 in chain B with the bond length of 2A. Any number of bonds can be specified.

Notes

• The program can use multiple CPU. The program does not use GPU. Running on single processor can be very slow. Use as many CPUs as possible.

References

• Afonine PV, Gobet A, Moissonnier L, Martin J, Poon BK, Chaptal V. Conformational space exploration of cryo-EM structures by variability refinement. Biochim Biophys Acta Biomembr. 2023 Apr;1865(4):184133. doi: 10.1016/j.bbamem.2023.184133. Epub 2023 Feb 3. PMID: 36738875.