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Cryo-Electron tomography of crystalline protein assemblies


EMSL Project ID
51963

Abstract

The ability of proteins to pack into ordered, crystalline assemblies, provided the right conditions, has been exploited for decades to explore their atomic structure. Still, many proteins fail to form ordered crystals of sufficient size for conventional structure determination, and the molecular causes for this are still poorly understood. Electron diffraction has shown promise in this direction, opening up the possibility of elucidating protein structures from crystals only a few hundred nanometers thick. Still, a complete 3D picture of protein nanocrystals remains elusive. For this project, we seek to study the association of protein molecules within a nanocrystal by electron cryotomography (cryoET). Using cryoET we will determine the structure of the underlying molecules by subtomogram averaging and also the organization of these molecules within the crystal lattice. From this, we hope to improve our understanding of the forces that lead to nucleation and growth of protein crystals.

Project Details

Start Date
2021-03-08
End Date
2023-09-30
Status
Closed

Team

Principal Investigator

Jose Rodriguez
Institution
University of California, Los Angeles