Scientists have gotten their first detailed look at the molecular structure of an enzyme that Nature has been using for eons to help silence unwanted genetic messages: Dicer, an enzyme that plays a critical role in a process known as RNA interference.
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ALS Work Using Protein Crystallography
Protein crystallography is used for determining the molecular structure of proteins. Crystallized protein molecules cause a beam of incident x-rays to scatter in many directions, with constructive and destructive interference generating a diffraction pattern. By analyzing these patterns, a crystallographer can produce a three-dimensional picture of the density of electrons within the crystal and thus determine the protein's structure.
Snapshots of Ribozyme Reaction States Reveal Structural Switch
RNA, like protein, can sometimes function as an enzyme (ribozyme) to speed biochemical reaction rates. But how does RNA, a simple polymer, enhance reaction rates by at least a million fold? Researchers obtained the structures of a ribozyme trapped in different states of its catalytic cycle, showing how a change in the RNA conformation governs the reaction mechanism. Read more »
The Path of Messenger RNA through the Ribosome
Using x-ray crystallography, researchers directly observed the path of mRNA in the 70S ribosome in Fourier difference maps at 7 Å resolution. Image depicts the view down the crystallographic 4-fold axis of the 70S ribosome-mRNA-tRNA complex, showing the head-to-tail juxtaposition of the model mRNAs (red-orange) between adjacent ribosomes. Read more »
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