Life Science Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
Curr Opin Struct Biol. 2012 Oct;22(5):627-35. doi: 10.1016/j.sbi.2012.07.006. Epub 2012 Jul 24.
A mechanistic understanding of the molecular transactions that govern cellular function requires knowledge of the dynamic organization of the macromolecular machines involved in these processes. Structural biologists employ a variety of biophysical methods to study large macromolecular complexes, but no single technique is likely to provide a complete description of the structure-function relationship of all the constituent components. Since structural studies generally only provide snapshots of these dynamic machines as they accomplish their molecular functions, combining data from many methodologies is crucial to our understanding of molecular function.
对控制细胞功能的分子转化进行机理理解需要了解参与这些过程的大分子机器的动态组织。结构生物学家采用各种生物物理方法来研究大型大分子复合物,但没有一种单一的技术可能为所有组成成分的结构-功能关系提供完整的描述。由于结构研究通常只提供这些动态机器在完成其分子功能时的静态快照,因此结合来自多种方法的数据对于我们理解分子功能至关重要。