Correcting Water Orientations

If the orientation of water molecules is incorrect, reorient the molecules with the following procedure:

1. Pick the water molecule in the Workspace.
2. In the 3D Builder panel, click Move .

The Move Atoms banner is displayed, giving instructions.

3. Middle-click the oxygen atom.

This ensures that the rotation is about the oxygen atom, rather than about the centroid of the water molecule atoms, which will shift the oxygen as well as the hydrogens.

4. Use the middle mouse button to change the orientation of the water hydrogens.
5. Pick another water molecule and repeat the above two steps.
6. Dismiss the Move Atoms banner.

You might also have to adjust the geometry of some groups in the active site. Check particularly for GLN and ASN: the N and O atoms can look the same in the X-ray structure determination, so they might need to be flipped at their terminal dihedral if there is a poor hydrogen-bonding pattern or steric clashes. Likewise, the ring in HIS might need to be flipped. You can do this by rotating the dihedral angle by 180°.

To rotate a dihedral angle:

1. Right-click the bond around which you want to rotate, and choose Rotate Dihedral.

An arrowhead is placed on the bond, pointing to the group that will be rotated. If this is not the correct group, click on the bond again.

2. Use the mouse wheel or drag horizontally (with the left mouse button) to change the angle.

If you want to be more precise in the rotation, use the following steps:

1. ChooseInin the Maestro main window, choose Edit → Adjust → Angles / Dihedrals.
2. Pick four atoms to define the dihedral angle.

The fourth atom should be one of the atoms in the group you want to rotate. Markers and the value of the angle are displayed.

3. Drag horizontally with the left mouse button or scroll with the mouse wheel until the angle has changed to the appropriate value.