Techniques in Structural Biology and Biophysics
This course aims to provide an overview of modern structural biology and protein biophysics techniques.
After the course, the successful student will understand the theoretical basis of popular techniques in structural biology and protein biophysics research, comprehend the hardware needed for these techniques, be able to explain which information each technique can provide and what its limitations are. The successful student will also be able to demonstrate how modern life science research uses such techniques in real world scenarios, and will be able to draft a short research proposal incorporating such methods.
Discover the modern arsenal of research techniques used to study the structure, function and dynamics of biological macromolecules. Students will learn the fundamental principles behind these techniques, their use and limitations. We will explore their application in real-world scenarios using case studies of current literature, including through journal club style presentations. By the end of the course, students will be able to skillfully incorporate use of such techniques into a research project proposal.
Week 1. Introduction to structural biology.
A. Determining macromolecular structures
2. X-ray crystallography.
3. Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.
4. Cryoelectron microscopy: single particle analysis.
5. Cryoelectron microscopy: tomography.
6. Volume imaging.
7. Computational structural biology approaches.
8. Student presentations #1.
B. Biophysical characterization tools
9. Mass spectrometry.
10. Förster resonance energy transfer, electron paramagnetic resonance, force spectroscopy.
11. Small-angle X-ray/neutron scattering, circular dichroism and infrared spectroscopy.
12. Isothermal titration calorimetry and surface plasmon resonance.
13. Student presentations #2.
C. Research project proposal.
Participation: 20%
Presentation 1: 20%
Presentation 2: 20%
Research project proposal: 40%
B27 Molecular Biology of the Cell, or equivalent
Introduction to Biomolecular Structure and Biophysics (Misra et al., 2017)
Advanced Methods in Structural Biology (Senda et al., 2016)
Integrative Structural Biology with Hybrid Methods (Nakamura et al., 2018)
Molecular Biology of the Cell (Alberts et al., 7th edition, 2022).
The Machinery of Life (Goodsell, 2nd edition, 2009).
New for AY2025