Single-Particle Cryo-EM of the Ryanodine Receptor Channel in an Aqueous Environment.

ABSTRACT: Ryanodine receptors (RyRs) are tetrameric ligand-gated Ca(2+) release channels that are responsible for the increase of cytosolic Ca(2+) concentration leading to muscle contraction. Our current understanding of RyR channel gating and regulation is greatly limited due to the lack of a high-resolution structure of the channel protein. The enormous size and unwieldy shape of Ca(2+) release channels make X-ray or NMR methods difficult to apply for high-resolution structural analysis of the full-length functional channel. Single-particle electron cryo-microscopy (cryo-EM) is one of the only effective techniques for the study of such a large integral membrane protein and its molecular interactions. Despite recent developments in cryo-EM technologies and break-through single-particle cryo-EM stud

SUBMITTER: Baker MR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4748972 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature