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
- 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
- Spread of a novel SARS-CoV-2 variant across Europe in summer 2020
- Women’s Hearts Age Differently
- Maternal Elixir
- Mechanism discovered how the coronavirus hijacks the cell
- How Plants Close their Gates when Microbes Attack
- Spores to Help Combat Coronavirus
- RNA as a future cure for hereditary diseases
- Corona Measures “Imparting knowledge is not enough”
- The amazing travels of small RNAs
- Iron deficiency during infancy reduces vaccine efficacy
- Spark Award winners illuminate tumours
- Data-driven resistance training against muscular atrophy
- How Venus Flytraps Snap
- How bacteria fertilise soya
- The key lies in the genes
- ETH researchers deconstruct tissue repair
- Bumblebees speed up flowering
- Joining forces at ETH Zurich for a covid-19 vaccine
- Extinct Giant Turtle Had Horned Shell of up to Three Meters
- Maintaining better health
- New world map of fish genetic diversity
- Refining Breast Cancer Classification by Multiplexed Imaging
- Cellular Traitors
- Machine keeps human livers alive for one week
- Fixing Hearts, Saving Lives
- Fading Petunias
- Mindfulness Meditation Enhances Positive Effects of Psilocybin
- Antibiotics with Novel Mechanism of Action Discovered