Description:

Determination of 3D structure of biological macromolecules, such as proteins, nucleic acids or their complexes, by the means of physical methods is crucial for new trends in biotechnologies, biomedicine and also in basic molecular biology research. Individual methods of three-dimensional structure determination will be explained with a focus on the individual steps of single crystal diffraction analysis. Practical examples of application in biotechnologies and medicine will be discussed. The practicals will cover several basic steps leading to determination of a new molecular structure.

Contents:

1. Introduction to physical methods of structural biology. 2. Structure and properties of proteins and nucleic acids. 3. Crystallization methods. 4. Single crystal diffraction of proteins and nucleic acids. 5. Overcoming the phase problem in biological structures. 6. Structure refinement and validation; structure-function relationship and biological significance. 7. Databases of macromolecular structures.

Seminar contents:

1. Protein sample characterisation. 2. Protein crystallisation. 3. Single crystal diffraction experiment. 4. Diffraction data processing. 5. Model building and refinement using 3D graphics. 6. Structure analysis of a bacterial or viral protein.

Recommended literature:

Key reference A. Liljas et al. Textbook of structural biology, Recommended reference D. Blow: Protein crystallography for biologists, Media and tools: Crystallographic software (provided), Internet-based access to databases, basic equipment for protein crystallography (provided)

Keywords:

Protein crystallography, Structural biology, Single crystal diffraction, Molecular structure, Crystallization, Phase problem, Structural database

Abbreviations used:

Semester:

• W ... winter semester (usually October - February)
• S ... spring semester (usually March - June)
• W,S ... both semesters

Mode of completion of the course:

• A ... Assessment (no grade is given to this course but credits are awarded. You will receive only P (Passed) of F (Failed) and number of credits)
• GA ... Graded Assessment (a grade is awarded for this course)
• EX ... Examination (a grade is awarded for this course)
• A, EX ... Examination (the award of Assessment is a precondition for taking the Examination in the given subject, a grade is awarded for this course)

Weekly load (hours per week):

• P ... lecture
• C ... seminar
• L ... laboratory
• R ... proseminar
• S ... seminar