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Turning protein crystallisation from an art into a science
1Biological Structure and Function Section, Division of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Sir Alexander Fleming Building, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK. n.chayen@imperial.ac.uk
Current Opinion in Structural Biology
|October 7, 2004
Summary
Protein crystallization is crucial for structural genomics in the post-genomic era. Overcoming bottlenecks in producing high-quality crystals requires either empirical methods or a deeper understanding of crystallization principles for targeted experimental design.
Area of Science:
- Biochemistry
- Structural Biology
- Genomics
Background:
- Protein crystallization is vital for structural genomics.
- High-quality crystal production remains a significant challenge in structure determination.
- The increasing scale of proteomics exacerbates crystallization bottlenecks.
Purpose of the Study:
- To highlight the strategic and commercial importance of protein crystallization.
- To discuss the challenges in producing suitable protein crystals.
- To explore different approaches for improving protein crystallization.
Main Methods:
- Review of empirical, trial-and-error crystallization techniques.
- Emphasis on understanding fundamental crystallization principles.
- Application of scientific knowledge to design experimental strategies.
Main Results:
- Two main approaches to protein crystallization exist: empirical and principle-based.
- Empirical methods often rely on "art" and trial-and-error.
- A principle-based approach allows for designed, rational experimental methodologies.
Conclusions:
- Advancing protein crystallization is key to unlocking structural genomics potential.
- A shift from empirical to principle-driven methods is needed for medical and industrial applications.
- Understanding crystallization principles enables the production of high-quality crystals for structure determination.