空间微重力环境下蛋白质晶体生长的研究进展

Research Progresses of Protein Crystal Growth in Microgravity Environment

空间微重力环境可消除或减弱常重力场下溶液中存在的对流和沉降,为蛋白质晶体生长提供一个相对均一和稳定的环境,有利于得到尺寸更大、衍射分辨率更高的蛋白质晶体。通过对这些高质量空间晶体进行X射线衍射分析,可获得多种蛋白质的精细三维结构。从空间蛋白质晶体生长的发展历史、研究成果、生长机理、存在的问题与对策等方面总结了空间微重力环境下蛋白质晶体生长的研究进展,展望了空间蛋白质结晶的未来。

Convection and sedimentation under normal gravity can be eliminated or reduced in a microgravity environment, which provides a relatively homogeneous and stable environment for protein crystallization. As a result, protein crystals of larger size and higher diffraction resolution can be obtained. These Space-grown crystals have been used to determine the 3-dimensional molecular structures of proteins via X-ray diffraction technique, which made sig nificant contribution to structural biology. The research progresses made in this field are reviewed from the following four aspects： the history, the research results, the growth mechanism, as well as the problems and its solutions. Finally, the future expectation of protein crystallization in a microgravity environment is also presented.