When Protein Crystallography Won't Show You the Membranes (446th Brookhaven Lecture)
- Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States). National Synchrotron Light Source
High fever, stomach ache, coughing, sneezing, and fatigue -- these are all painful signs that you may have caught the flu virus. But how does your body actually 'catch' a virus? Somewhere along the way, the virus infected your body by penetrating the membranes, or surfaces, of some of your body's cells. And then it spreads. Cell membranes are permeable surfaces made of proteins and lipids that allow vital materials to enter and exit cells. Many proteins and cell structures are studied at Brookhaven's National Synchrotron Light Source (NSLS) using a procedure called protein crystallography. But they sometimes have unique characteristics that do not allow them to be easily studied using this widely adopted method. These characteristics make it difficult to understand the cell membrane structure and its ability to both welcome and refuse certain materials and viruses, such as the flu, on behalf of the cell's internal components. Yang will explain the protein crystallography procedure, the simple structure of the cell membrane, and the unusual characteristics of its proteins and lipids. He will also discuss a new, unique method being developed at the NSLS to study proteins and lipids within their native environment as they form the essential permeable surface of a cell membrane.
- Research Organization:
- Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC02-98CH10886
- OSTI ID:
- 1004912
- Report Number(s):
- BNL-83221-2009-CP; TRN: US1104088
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Brookhaven Lecture Series: 1960 - Present, Upton, NY (United States), 18 Feb 2009
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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