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-Structure paper
Title | Protein denaturation at the air-water interface and how to prevent it. |
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Journal, issue, pages | Elife, Vol. 8, Year 2019 |
Publish date | Apr 1, 2019 |
Authors | Edoardo D'Imprima / Davide Floris / Mirko Joppe / Ricardo Sánchez / Martin Grininger / Werner Kühlbrandt / |
PubMed Abstract | Electron cryo-microscopy analyzes the structure of proteins and protein complexes in vitrified solution. Proteins tend to adsorb to the air-water interface in unsupported films of aqueous solution, ...Electron cryo-microscopy analyzes the structure of proteins and protein complexes in vitrified solution. Proteins tend to adsorb to the air-water interface in unsupported films of aqueous solution, which can result in partial or complete denaturation. We investigated the structure of yeast fatty acid synthase at the air-water interface by electron cryo-tomography and single-particle image processing. Around 90% of complexes adsorbed to the air-water interface are partly denatured. We show that the unfolded regions face the air-water interface. Denaturation by contact with air may happen at any stage of specimen preparation. Denaturation at the air-water interface is completely avoided when the complex is plunge-frozen on a substrate of hydrophilized graphene. |
External links | Elife / PubMed:30932812 / PubMed Central |
Methods | EM (single particle) / EM (subtomogram averaging) |
Resolution | 4.0 - 24.6 Å |
Structure data | EMDB-0178: EMDB-0179: |
Source |
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