PROTEIN CRYSTALLIZATION BY INDUCED SYMMETRY

THE GOAL OF THE RESEARCH IS TO DEVELOP PATENTABLE MATERIALS AND METHODOLOGY THAT WOULD FACILITATE THE SLOW EXPENSIVE PROCESS OF OBTAINING QUALITY PROTEIN CRYSTALS NEEDED IN PROTEIN X-RAY CRYSTALLOGRAPHY. THE METHOD ACHIEVES THIS BY ATTACHING PROTEIN MOLECULES TO A SYNTHETIC CORE. THE COMPLEX POSSESSING STRUCTURAL SYMMETRY IS MORE PRONE TO CRYSTALLIZATION THAN THE INDIVIDUAL INHERENTLY UNSYMMETRICAL PROTEIN MOLECULES. THE METHOD ALSO PROVIDES FOR A GENERAL APPROACH TO ISOMORPHOUS REPLACEMENT, THUS FACILITATING THE CONVERSION OF X-RAY DIFFRACTION PATTERSN TO ACTUAL STRUCTURES. HIGH-RESOLUTION PROTEIN STRUCTURES ARE USEFUL IN COMPUTER-AIDED DESIGN STUDIES, ESPECIALLY IN THE FIELDS OF PROTEIN ENGINEERING, PESTICIDE DESIGN, AND DRUG DEVELOPMENT.