Validation of the detergent micelle classification for membrane protein crystals and explanation of the Matthews Graph for soluble proteins.

ABSTRACT: Protein crystals are of wide-spread interest because many of them allow structure analyses at atomic resolution. For soluble proteins, the packing density of such crystals is distributed according to the Matthews Graph. For integral membrane proteins, the respective graph is similar but at lower density and much broader. By visualizing the relative positions and orientations of membrane proteins in crystals, it has been suggested that the detergent micelles surrounding these proteins form sheets, filaments, or remain isolated in the crystal giving rise to three distinct packing density distributions that superimpose to form the observed broad distribution. This classification was indirect because detergent is not visible in X-ray crystallography. Given the extensive work involved in analyz

SUBMITTER: Schulz GE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3218370 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature