title: Super-resolution in solution X-ray scattering and its applications to structural systems biology.
abstract: Small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) is a robust technique for the comprehensive structural characterizations of biological macromolecular complexes in solution. Here, we present a coherent synthesis of SAXS theory and experiment with a focus on analytical tools for accurate, objective, and high-throughput investigations. Perceived SAXS limitations are considered in light of its origins, and we present current methods that extend SAXS data analysis to the super-resolution regime. In particular, we discuss hybrid structural methods, illustrating the role of SAXS in structure refinement with NMR and ensemble refinement with single-molecule FRET. High-throughput genomics and proteomics are far outpacing macromolecular structure determinations, creating information gaps between the plethora of newly identified genes, known structures, and the structure-function relationship in the underlying biological networks. SAXS can bridge these information gaps by providing a reliable, high-throughput structural characterization of macromolecular complexes under physiological conditions.
authors.affiliation: Physical Biosciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, USA. rprambo@lbl.gov
authors.forename: Robert P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Rambo
authors.forename: John A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Tainer
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry; D031541:Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer; D006801:Humans; D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D019906:Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, Biomolecular; D011506:Proteins / Q000737:chemistry*; D053838:Scattering, Small Angle; D049490:Systems Biology / Q000379:methods*; D014961:X-Ray Diffraction
chemical_list: D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D011506:Proteins; D004247:DNA