Biocrystallography, structure determination and beyond

The technique of X-ray diffraction is central to our understanding of biomolecular structure at high resolution. This review looks at the achievements and future challenges to X-ray biocrystallography. The processes involved in macromolecular crystallography are examined from crystallization to data collection, phase determination and structure refinement. The advantages of synchrotron radiation are also discussed with respect to the possibilities of examining small crystals, multiple anomalous dispersion and time-resolved Laue diffraction. Large protein assemblies and time-resolved structures are reviewed as examples of structure determination that push forward the boundaries of X-ray crystallography. The potential for X-ray crystallography of membrane-bound enzymes is investigated, as are the potential benefits of X-ray crystallography to rational drug design. The challenges to crystallography include factors such as determination of larger structures at higher resolution with dynamic information being increasingly important in aiding a full understanding of a structure-function relationship