Protein Complex
A protein complex is a collection of proteins that interact with each other at the same time, which has an essential role in regulatory processes, cellular functions, and signaling cascades. The three-dimensional (3D) structures, assembly mechanism, and function of protein complexes are becoming a new hotspot in biological research.
Cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM) combined with image processing technology has been recognized as an effective method to study the structures of biological macromolecular complexes. Unlike the X-ray crystallography method, cryo-EM does not require large-scale protein production and crystallization process, which is especially a powerful tool for protein complexes.
Figure 1. The overall structure of the human cohesin-NIPBLC-DNA complex (SHI Z, et al. 2020)
Protein subunits can be expressed and purified separately, and then mixed to form a complex, or they can be co-expressed and assembled inside cells, and then purified as a complex. During chromatographic purification, multiple subunits of the protein complex can carry different affinity tags to improve purity. The following is one of the protein complexes preparation processes for cryo-EM analysis:
In recent years, our cryo-EM team has been continuously submitting structural analysis data to the electron microscope database (EMDB). Our cryo-EM platform can accurately determine the 3D structures of protein complexes and other macromolecules.
Our service advantages:
- Higher analytical speed, sensitivity, and selectivity
- Efficient and flexible computing platform
- Rich database resources
- Long term continuous support services
If you are interested in our protein complex of structural biology research service, please feel free to contact us. We are looking forward to cooperating with you.
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Reference
- SHI Z, et al. Cryo-EM structure of the human cohesin-NIPBL-DNA complex. Science. 2020. 368(6498): 1454-1459.
