Toward Organism-scale Structural Biology: S-layer Reined in by Bacterial LPS

Abstract

Technical developments are unifying molecular and cellular biology. A recent electron cryotomography study by von Kügelgen et al. highlights the bright future for such studies, seamlessly integrating near-atomic resolution protein structures, organism-scale architecture, native mass spectrometry, and molecular dynamic simulations to clarify how the Caulobacter crescentus S-layer assembles on the lipopolysaccharides (LPS) of the cell surface.

Keywords: Caulobacter crescentus; electron cryotomography; integrative cell biology; molecular dynamics; native mass spectrometry.