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Published online 4 March 2009 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news.2009.134
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Peering at proteins inside cells
Nuclear magnetic resonance spies the atomic details of proteins in action.
The atomic structures of proteins at work inside cells can now be probed, thanks to researchers who have modified a technique that is already widely used in labs and for medical imaging.
When a protein is inside a cell — rather than in a test tube — it behaves subtly differently because it may be interacting with other biological molecules that float around in the cellular space.
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Many years ago Peter Martel and collaborators used neutron scattering to look at proteins inside cells. By using appropriate Heavy/Light water ratios we were able to single out protein movements inside hemoglobin cells. The results are more or less in line with recent NMR measurements cited in this article by Sanderson. Our work appeared in Biophys. J. 59, 363-374, 1991.