title: Investigating a macromolecular complex: the toolkit of methods.
abstract: Structural biologists studying macromolecular complexes spend considerable effort doing strictly "non-structural" work: investigating the physiological relevance and biochemical properties of a complex, preparing homogeneous samples for structural analysis, and experimentally validating structure-based hypotheses regarding function or mechanism. Familiarity with the diverse perspectives and techniques available for studying complexes helps in the critical assessment of non-structural data, expedites the pre-structural characterization of a complex and facilitates the investigation of function. Here we survey the approaches and techniques used to study macromolecular complexes from various viewpoints, including genetics, cell and molecular biology, biochemistry/biophysics, structural biology, and systems biology/bioinformatics. The aim of this overview is to heighten awareness of the diversity of perspectives and experimental tools available for investigating complexes and of their usefulness for the structural biologist.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, NKI, Plesmanlaan 121, 1066 CX, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. a.perrakis@nki.nl
authors.forename: Anastassis
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Perrakis
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Musacchio
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cusack
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Petosa
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D019295:Computational Biology; D006801:Humans; D047468:Immunoprecipitation / Q000379:methods; D008958:Models, Molecular; D046912:Multiprotein Complexes / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D011485:Protein Binding; D011487:Protein Conformation; D025941:Protein Interaction Mapping / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D046912:Multiprotein Complexes