CHARACTERIZATION OF MEMBRANE PROTEIN COMPLEXES

Scripps Research Institute, The, La Jolla CA

Investigators

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Abstract

This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. This project focuses on the development and use of transmission electron microscopy in characterizing membrane protein-protein complexes. We will develop an automated assay to image, select, and classify membrane protein complexes in terms of their aggregation state, size, conformational state and domain arrangement. One goal is to develop a more systematic understanding of the effect of detergents and lipids on the stability and conformation of membrane proteins and their complexes in order to help optimize crystallization efforts. A more ambitious goal is to map out individual protein domains in order to better understand the interactions between proteins in a complex that might be conformationally or structurally heterogeneous. This low resolution information can be combined with high-resolution models of individual subunits or subcomplexes, derived from X-ray and NMR studies, in order to develop a more detailed understanding of the protein-protein interactions within complexes.