Work

A practical guide to small angle X‐ray scattering (SAXS) of flexible and intrinsically disordered proteins

Year: 2015

Type: review

Abstract: Small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) is a biophysical method to study the overall shape and structural transitions of biological macromolecules in solution. SAXS provides low resolution information on the shape, conformation and assembly state of proteins, nucleic acids and various macromolecular complexes. The technique also offers powerful means for the quantitative analysis of flexible systems, including intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs). Here, the basic principles of SAXS are presented, and profits and pitfalls of the characterization of multidomain flexible proteins and IDPs using SAXS are discussed from the practical point of view. Examples of the synergistic use of SAXS with high resolution methods like X-ray crystallography and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), as well as other experimental and in silico techniques to characterize completely, or partially unstructured proteins, are presented.

Source: FEBS Letters

DOI: 10.1016/j.febslet.2015.08.027

Authors: Alexey G. Kikhney, Dmitri I. Svergun

Institutions: European Molecular Biology Laboratory, European Molecular Biology Laboratory

Language: English

Topic: Protein Structure and Dynamics

Subfield: Molecular Biology

Field: Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Domain: Life Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,980

Funder: FP7 Research infrastructures