Titration_DB: storage and analysis of NMR-monitored protein pH titration curves

NMR-monitored pH titration experiments are routinely used to measure site-specific protein pKa values. Accurate experimental pKa values are essential in dissecting enzyme catalysis, in studying the pH-dependence of protein stability and ligand binding, in benchmarking pKa prediction algorithms, and ultimately in understanding electrostatic effects in proteins. However, due to the complex ways in which pH-dependent electrostatic and structural changes manifest themselves in NMR spectra, reported apparent pKa values are often dependent on the way that NMR pH-titration curves are analyzed. It is therefore important to retain the raw NMR spectroscopic data to allow for documentation and possible re-interpretation. We have constructed a database of primary NMR pH-titration data, which is accessible via a web interface. Here, we report statistics of the database contents and analyze the data with a global perspective to provide guidelines on best practice for fitting NMR titration curves. Titration_DB is available at http://enzyme.ucd.ie/Titration_DB. Proteins 2010. (c) 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.