Merging molecular electron microscopy and mass spectrometry by carbon film-assisted endoproteinase digestion.

ABSTRACT: Many fundamental processes in the cell are performed by complex macromolecular assemblies that comprise a large number of proteins. Numerous macromolecular assemblies are structurally rather fragile and may suffer during purification, resulting in the partial dissociation of the complexes. These limitations can be overcome by chemical fixation of the assemblies, and recently introduced protocols such as gradient fixation during ultracentrifugation (GraFix) offer advantages for the analysis of fragile macromolecular assemblies. The irreversible fixation, however, is thought to render macromolecular samples useless for studying their protein composition. We therefore developed a novel approach that possesses the advantages of fixation for structure determination by single particle electron m

SUBMITTER: Richter FM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2938063 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature