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Determination of protein structural ensembles using cryo-electron microscopy.
Massimiliano Bonomi1, Michele Vendruscolo1
1Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1EW, United Kingdom.
Current Opinion in Structural Biology
|December 4, 2018
Summary
Understanding protein behavior requires knowledge of structures, thermodynamics, and dynamics, often represented by structural ensembles. Integrative methods, especially cryo-electron microscopy, are key to determining these ensembles.
Area of Science:
- Structural biology
- Biophysics
- Computational biology
Background:
- Protein structure, thermodynamics, and dynamics are crucial for understanding protein behavior.
- Structural ensembles effectively represent this comprehensive information.
- Integrative methods combining experimental and computational approaches are powerful tools.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review challenges and opportunities in determining protein structural ensembles.
- To highlight the role of cryo-electron microscopy in bridging order and disorder.
- To provide an overview of available tools for researchers.
Main Methods:
- Focus on cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) as a key technique.
- Discuss integrative approaches combining cryo-EM with other data sources.
- Mention computational methods for analyzing structural ensembles.
Main Results:
- Cryo-electron microscopy is an invaluable resource for studying protein disorder.
- Integrative approaches enable the determination of protein structural ensembles.
- Various tools are available to the scientific community for this purpose.
Conclusions:
- Determining protein structural ensembles is essential for comprehensive understanding.
- Cryo-EM and integrative methods offer powerful solutions.
- Continued development of these approaches will advance structural biology.
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