title: A glimpse of structural biology through X-ray crystallography.
abstract: Since determination of the myoglobin structure in 1957, X-ray crystallography, as the anchoring tool of structural biology, has played an instrumental role in deciphering the secrets of life. Knowledge gained through X-ray crystallography has fundamentally advanced our views on cellular processes and greatly facilitated development of modern medicine. In this brief narrative, I describe my personal understanding of the evolution of structural biology through X-ray crystallography-using as examples mechanistic understanding of protein kinases and integral membrane proteins-and comment on the impact of technological development and outlook of X-ray crystallography.
authors.affiliation: Center for Structural Biology, Tsinghua-Peking Joint Center for Life Sciences, School of Life Sciences and School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China. Electronic address: shi-lab@tsinghua.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Yigong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000737:chemistry; D018360:Crystallography, X-Ray / Q000266:history* / Q000379:methods*; D030562:Databases, Protein; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008967:Molecular Biology / Q000266:history*; D011494:Protein Kinases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D011506:Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D011506:Proteins; D011494:Protein Kinases