BIOLOGICAL STRUCTURAL STUDIES USING IMAGE PROCESSING

我们目前正在研究两种生物结构： 和仙台病毒核衣壳。 第一个项目的目的是 确定肌动蛋白的分子结构，分辨率至少为10 A。 的 实现这一项目的关键前提是， 通过G-肌动蛋白透析制备的高度有序的肌动蛋白晶体薄片 对抗钆离子。 具体目标是：获得三维模型 肌动蛋白的15 A分辨率，从倾斜的电子显微镜照片确定 晶体肌动蛋白片的负染色制备物的观点，以及 找到肌动蛋白丝内肌动蛋白分子的方向， 通过计算将从肌动蛋白片层获得的模型与模型进行比对 源自肌动蛋白丝的次晶体。 有包膜病毒的核衣壳是非常重要的结构， 作为研究蛋白质合成和运输的模型系统， 细胞，并在其自身的权利作为致病病毒的重要组成部分。 的 我们项目的目的是研究仙台病毒的结构 核衣壳 我们的目标是确定蛋白质的几何包装内 核衣壳和单链RNA的位置。

We are currently studying two biological structures: crystalline actin sheets and the Sendai virus nucleocapsid. The purpose of the first project is to determine the molecular structure of actin to at least 10 A resolution. The crucial prerequisite for the realization of this project is the existence of highly ordered thin crystalline sheets of actin prepared by dialysis of G-actin against gadolinium ions. The specific aims are: To obtain 3-dimensional model of actin to 15 A resolution, determined from electron micrographs from tilted views of negatively stained preparations of crystalline actin sheets, and to find the orientation of the actin molecule within the actin filament by computationally aligning the model obtained from actin sheets with the model derived from paracrystals of actin filaments. The nucleocapsids of enveloped viruses are structures of major importance both as model-systems for the study of the synthesis and transport of proteins within cells, and in their own right as vital components of pathogenic viruses. The purpose of our project is to study the structure of the Sendai virus nucleocapsid. We aim to determine the geometrical packing of protein within the nucleocapsid and the location of the single RNA strand.