'IMISX' Is A New Technique For Blueprinting 3-D Structure Of Proteins

The biochemists from Trinity College Dublin along with scientists at the Swiss Light Source and the University of Konstanz have come up with a new technique called 'in meso in situ serial crystallography' (IMISX) that will help researchers to accurately blueprint the 3-D structure of certain proteins. The novel method will make this kind of critical job considerably easier, cheaper and it is not at all difficult to implement. According to the biochemists, the protein structure blueprints can help the researchers to gain better insights into the working of a single protein thereby the technique will cause developments in the field of drug discovery. This will ultimately aid drug developers to fabricate drugs for diseases or infections.


The challenge of producing sizeable membrane protein crystals for determining the precise and accurate 3-D structural blueprints is now simplified by this IMISX method. Earlier, the researchers were required to harvest protein crystals and bring down their temperature in a complex set of events. This procedure was not only hazardous but also fallible and inefficacious. Moreover, the new IMISX technique will allow the scientists to devise structural 3-D blueprints whenever and wherever the crystals grow and evolve.

As per the researchers, more than 50 percent of drugs available in the market target cell membrane proteins that are necessary and crucial for day-to-day functioning of complex cellular processes. These proteins make sure that particular molecules move into the cells and leave them. They act like a signal interpreter for decoding messages by starting and speeding up apt responses.

Martin Caffrey, Professor of Membrane Structural and Functional Biology at Trinity, mentioned in a statement that the team has demonstrated the technique on various cell membrane proteins. It will be working in order with existing equipment at the research facilities and might replace the present protocols of drug development. The research was published in the journal Acta Crystallographica D. It was funded by a grant from Science Foundation, Ireland.

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