title: Preparation and characterization of bacterial protein complexes for structural analysis.
abstract: Bacteria mediate a large variety of biological processes using protein complexes. These complexes range from simple binary heterodimeric enzymes to more complex multi-subunit complexes that can be described as macromolecular machines. A key to understanding how these complexes function is obtaining structural information using methods that include electron microscopy, small-angle X-ray scattering, NMR spectroscopy, and X-ray crystallography. Here we describe a variety of approaches to the expression, purification, and biophysical characterization of bacterial protein complexes as a prerequisite to structural analysis. We also give several examples of the kinds of information these different biophysical approaches can provide and various experimental approaches to obtaining structure information for a given system. Further, we describe several examples of protein complexes where we have obtained structural data that have led to new biological insights.
authors.affiliation: Biotechnology Research Institute, National Research Council Canada, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: Allan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Matte
authors.forename: Guennadi
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kozlov
authors.forename: Jean-François
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Trempe
authors.forename: Mark A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Currie
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Burk
authors.forename: Zongchao
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Jia
authors.forename: Kalle
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Gehring
authors.forename: Irena
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ekiel
authors.forename: Albert M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Berghuis
authors.forename: Miroslaw
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cygler
mesh_terms: D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000302:isolation & purification*
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins