Protein Crystallization Seen in Real Time

A team of investigators from the Molecular Foundry announce that atomic force mciroscopy can now be used to determine how a certain class of proteins promotes the development of crystals in cell-like environments. The work focused on analyzing surface-layer (S-layer) proteins, which are the primary point of contact between Bacteria, extremophiles and other types of microbes, and their environments.These molecules assemble in such a manner that they create a crystalline envelope around cells, which protect them from attacks, but also act as an interface for the microorganisms.Using atomic force microscopy (AFM), the researchers who led the new work saw in real time how this special type of proteins assembled into the crystalline structure. The proteins were in a cell-like environment. The work was carried out at the Foundry, which is a nanoscience user facility at the US Department of Energy's (DOE) Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). More>