Goldfarb D. Exploring protein conformations in vitro and in cell with EPR distance measurements.
Curr Opin Struct Biol 2022;
75:102398. [PMID:
35667279 DOI:
10.1016/j.sbi.2022.102398]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2022] [Revised: 04/20/2022] [Accepted: 04/30/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
The electron-electron double resonance (DEER) method, which provides distance distributions between two spin labels, attached site specifically to biomolecules (proteins and nucleic acids), is currently a well-recognized biophysical tool in structural biology. The most commonly used spin labels are based on nitroxide stable radicals, conjugated to the proteins primarily via native or engineered cysteine residues. However, in recent years, new spin labels, along with different labeling chemistries, have been introduced, driven in part by the desire to study structural and dynamical properties of biomolecules in their native environment, the cell. This mini-review focuses on these new spin labels, which allow for DEER on orthogonal spin labels, and on the state of the art methods for in-cell DEER distance measurements.
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