The Southeast Collaboratory for Structural Genomics: a high-throughput gene to structure factory

Area of Science:

• Structural Biology
• Genomics
• Biophysics

Background:

• The Southeast Collaboratory for Structural Genomics (SCSG) is a multi-institutional initiative.
• It comprises four specialized working groups focused on different aspects of structural biology.

Purpose of the Study:

• To establish and optimize high-throughput pipelines for protein production and structural determination.
• To develop and integrate advanced methodologies in X-ray crystallography, NMR spectroscopy, and bioinformatics.

Main Methods:

• Protein Production: High-output production of Pyrococcus furiosus, Caenorhabditis elegans, and human proteins.
• X-ray Crystallography: High-throughput structure determination using robotics, advanced instrumentation, and direct crystallography methods.
• NMR Spectroscopy: Sample screening and backbone structure determination using residual dipolar coupling data.
• Bioinformatics: Development of database interfaces and pipelines for sequence/structure analysis.

Main Results:

• Successful high-throughput production of diverse protein targets.
• Advancements in nanocrystallization, automated sample handling, and data processing for X-ray crystallography.
• Development of efficient methods for NMR-based structure determination.
• Implementation of integrated bioinformatics tools for data management and analysis.

Conclusions:

• The SCSG has established a robust, multi-disciplinary platform for structural genomics.
• Integrated approaches in protein production, structural determination, and bioinformatics accelerate the pace of structural biology research.
• The developed methodologies and tools are transferable and applicable to a wide range of structural biology projects.