Probing biomolecular assembly: Structure and dynamics

控制分子如何组装形成功能结构，并了解这些组装过程的动力学，对于从材料科学和化学到结构和细胞生物学等领域的努力是至关重要的。可以说，确定这种相互作用的结构和构象要求最好的方法是在分子水平上、实时地、名义上在现实世界的条件下检查这些事件。在细胞中，定义其功能、结构和动力学的许多事件发生在膜上或膜内，涉及与该环境相互作用或存在于该环境中的分子。例如，细胞表面黏附分子可以帮助细胞与其他细胞结合并相互作用，而其他分子则促进特定离子进入(或离开)细胞，或在细胞内细胞器内，以调节特定功能。信号通过特定信号配体的结合激活的膜结合分子传递到细胞内；然而，这些过程通常是非常笼统的，支持这些过程的真实动力学和特定的分子尺度事件在很大程度上仍不清楚，这是由于确定组成分子的结构、构象和取向的困难。我们的目标是开发方法，使我们能够直接解决这些问题

Controlling how molecules assemble to form functional structures and understanding the dynamics of these assembly processes is fundamental to efforts in fields ranging from materials science and chemistry to structural and cell biology. Arguably, determining the structural and conformational requirements for such interactions is best accomplished by examining these events at the molecular scale, in real-time, and under nominally real-world conditions. In the cell, many events that define its function, structure, and dynamics take place at or within a membrane, involving molecules that interact with or exist within this environment. For example, cell surface adhesion molecules can help a cell bind to, and interact with, other cells, while other molecules facilitate the transport of specific ions into (or out of) a cell, or within organelles in the cell, to regulate specific functions. Signals are transduced into the cell through membrane-bound molecules that are activated by the binding of specific signalling ligands; however, these processes are often cast in very general terms, and the true dynamics and specific molecular-scale events that underpin these processes remain largely unknown, a consequence of the difficulties in determining the structure, conformation, and orientation of the constituent molecules. Our goal is to develop approaches that allow us to directly address these very issues