Method of determining the three-dimensional shape of a macromolecule
US7167819B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignees
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | May 26, 2000 |
| Grant date | Jan 23, 2007 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | May 26, 2020 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10T436/24
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
The present invention provides a fast and efficient method for determining the three-dimensional conformation of a protein. The steps of the method of the invention include: 1) formation of physical distance constraints, e.g., forming intramolecular chemical crosslinks of known size between residues of a protein; 2) enriching the number of the molecules that have intramolecular chemical crosslinks in the reaction pool, e.g., using size separation to remove proteins with intermolecular bonds; 3) exposing the enriched reaction pool to a protease that cuts the protein at specific sites to produce peptide fragments; 4) measuring the size of the peptide fragments to determine linkage sites with a certain spatial relationship in the protein; and 5)interpreting the data produced to determine spatial geometry and protein structure based on the deduced spatial relationship of the linkage sites. The information is preferably analyzed with aid from a computer system, which can be used to generate and/or analyze distance constraints between amino acids.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.