How a large protein complex assembles in a cell
-
- The nuclear pore complexes (orange structures), some of which are in the process of assembly, are among the largest protein complexes in a cell. (Visualisation: Olga V Posukh, Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Novosibirsk)
A team of ETH researchers led by Karsten Weis has developed a method that allows them to study the assembly process for large protein complexes in detail for the first time. As their case study, the biologists chose one of the largest cellular complexes: the nuclear pore complex in yeast cells.
Cells produce a great number of different protein complexes, each of which is made up of many individual proteins. These protein complexes, like ribosomes for example, are what regulate almost all of a cell’s life-sustaining biological functions.
Biologists have succeeded in determining the structure of many of these complexes, but there is less research so far on how the individual proteins assemble and then change over time. Conventional approaches have thus far proved insufficient for studying the exact course that these reactions in cells take, especially where large complexes are concerned.
A group of ETH researchers led by Karsten Weis and research associate Evgeny Onischenko at ETH Zurich’s Institute of Biochemistry are now presenting a new approach. Their method makes it possible to track the dynamics of protein complex assemblies, even for very large ones, with high temporal resolution. The study has just been published in the journal Cell.
More news
- Protein shapes indicate Parkinson’s disease
- The seeds have germinated
- Watching the metabolism at work
- A Fountain of Youth for Blood Vessels
- In the Jungle of Neurons
- Fighting tumours with magnetic bacteria
- How genetics influences our body weight beyond the genes
- Immunotherapy Reduces Lung and Liver Fibrosis in Mice
- Preparing for future coronavirus variants using artificial intelligence
- Determining why the Arctic is turning ever greener
- Seeds for All
- First map of immune system connections reveals new therapeutic opportunities
- Global Spread of Powdery Mildew through Migration and Trade
- Resistance to mosaic disease in cassava explained
- Individual Cells Are Smarter Than Thought
- Social Development of Infants Unaffected by Covid-19 Pandemic
- Wonderful World of Wheat
- Severe flu risk as immune cells swap with age
- Dangerous Bites
- Tapping the ocean as a source of natural products
- Breast cancer spreads at night
- In the Beginning Was the Popcorn
- Diverse Forests Outyield Monocultures
- World Premiere: Successful Transplant of Human Liver Treated in Machine
- Dolphins Self-Medicate Skin Ailments at Coral “Clinics”
- Bacteria with recording function capture gut health status
- Environmental DNA reveals secret reef inhabitants
- Astrocyte Networks in the Mouse Brain Control Spatial Learning and Memory
- Like bacteria firing spearguns
- New drug candidates identified in bacteria
- Immunological Memory Provides Long-Term Protection against Coronavirus
- “Animal experiments will remain indispensable in the foreseeable future”
- Agents between good and evil
- “We have created a stable active ingredient”
- AI offers a faster way to predict antibiotic resistance
- Evidence-Based Contribution of Mechano-Biological Descriptors of Resistance Exercise
- Mechanism for DNA Invasion of Adenoviral Covid-19 Vaccines Discovered
- Saving infants' lives with iron
- Rapid PCR tests at the touch of a button
- When Resistant Germs Travel
- When Stress Makes You Sick
- Healthy People, Healthy Animals
- We are less sceptical of genetic engineering than assumed
- Humans and Chimps
- Computer algorithms are currently revolutionising biology
- Toxicity testing on the placenta and embryo
- Courting Females
- Eating Our Way Through the Pandemic
- Optimising nature
- Luring bacteria into a trap
- A deep dive into the brain
- How tendons become stiffer and stronger
- The African Wild Dog: An Ambassador for the World’s Largest Terrestrial Conservation Area
- The Achilles heel of the Coronavirus
- A simple exterior – but complex interior
- Brain Tumors under Attack
- Planting Underpants
- How bacteria sleep through antibiotic attacks
- Synchronization of Brain Hemispheres Changes What We Hear
- Unusual mutation causes defective sperm in boars
- Detailed tumour profiling
- What immune cells reveal about sleep disorders
- Depression therapy: Adrift on the Ocean
- Which factors trigger leaf die-off in autumn?
- Medical microrobots score the Breakthrough of the Year
- Understanding mutations at different levels of the cell