Advances and challenges of membrane-protein complex production

Sarah Zorman, Mathieu Botte, Qiyang Jiang, Ian Collinson, Christiane Schaffitzel

Research output: Contribution to journalArticle (Academic Journal)peer-review

27 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Most membrane-proteins exist in complexes rather than isolated entities. To fully understand their biological function it is essential to study the intact membrane-protein assemblies. The overexpression and purification of many essential membrane-protein complexes is still a considerable and often unsurmountable challenge. In these cases, extraction from source is the only option for many large multi-subunit cellular machines. Here, we describe recent advances in overexpression of multi-subunit membrane-protein complexes, the strategies to stabilize these complexes and highlight major achievements in membrane-protein structural research that were facilitated by the prospect of achieving subnanometer to near-atomic resolution by electron cryo-microscopy.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)123-30
Number of pages8
JournalCurrent Opinion in Structural Biology
Volume32
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jun 2015

Bibliographical note

Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Research Groups and Themes

  • Bristol BioDesign Institute

Keywords

  • synthetic biology

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