Femtosecond crystallography of membrane proteins in the lipidic cubic phase.

ABSTRACT: Despite recent technological advances in heterologous expression, stabilization and crystallization of membrane proteins (MPs), their structural studies remain difficult and require new transformative approaches. During the past two years, crystallization in lipidic cubic phase (LCP) has started gaining a widespread acceptance, owing to the spectacular success in high-resolution structure determination of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) and to the introduction of commercial instrumentation, tools and protocols. The recent appearance of X-ray free-electron lasers (XFELs) has enabled structure determination from substantially smaller crystals than previously possible with minimal effects of radiation damage, offering new exciting opportunities in structural biology. The unique properties

SUBMITTER: Liu W 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4052856 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature