Electron crystallography and aquaporins

Abstract

Electron crystallography of two-dimensional (2D) crystals can provide information on the structure of membrane proteins at near-atomic resolution. Originally developed and used to determine the structure of bacteriorhodopsin (bR), electron crystallography has recently been applied to elucidate the structure of aquaporins (AQPs), a family of membrane proteins that form pores mostly for water but also other solutes. While electron crystallography has made major contributions to our understanding of the structure and function of AQPs, structural studies on AQPs, in turn, have fostered a number of technical developments in electron crystallography. In this contribution, we summarize the insights electron crystallography has provided into the biology of AQPs, and describe technical advancements in electron crystallography that were driven by structural studies on AQP 2D crystals. In addition, we discuss some of the lessons that were learned from electron crystallographic work on AQPs.