Membrane protein dynamics studied by X-ray lasers – or why only time will tell
Abstract
Membrane proteins are the gatekeepers of cellular membranes where they act as enzymes, transporters, signaling receptors, or in energy conversion. Traditionally seen as a difficult field, the last decade has brought dramatic progress to membrane protein structural biology. Here, I describe recent advances in studying the conformational dynamics of membrane proteins by X-ray free electron lasers. By integrating sample efficient high viscosity injectors into pump probe setups, it has become possible to determine whole series of structural snapshots by time-resolved serial femtosecond crystallography and assemble them to molecular movies of proteins in action. According to the current studies on bacteriorhodopsin, photosystem II and nitric oxide reductase, I outline the technical challenges as well as new possibilities to study membrane protein function.
Read the paper
Related studies
- Developing high safety Li-metal anodes for future high-energy Li-metal batteries: strategies and perspectives
- Structure and Energy Transfer in Photosystems of Oxygenic Photosynthesis
- Ground- and Space-Based Gamma-Ray Astronomy
- Energy Functions in De Novo Protein Design: Current Challenges and Future Prospects
- Electronic structure of ions and molecules in solution: a view from modern soft X-ray spectroscopies
- Arising 2D Perovskites for Ionizing Radiation Detection
Go deeper in Evidence Hub
Evidence Hub adds a study data sheet (design, sample size, evidence level, key numbers), an AI summary and a chat grounded in the paper's text.