Macromolecular Crystallography

Multiprotein assemblies play major roles in most pathways involved in cell regulation and signaling. Weak binary interactions are transformed co-operatively into very specifi c systems, which achieve sensitivity, specifi city and temporal control. Due to the complexity and transience of these regulatory and signaling systems, a combination of in vivo, cell, biochemical, biophysical, and structural approaches is needed to investigate their structures and dynamics. Here we describe the architecture and spatial organisation of the complexes mediating Non-Homologous End Joining (NHEJ), one of the two major pathways involved in DNA double-strand break repair. Our example illustrates the experimental challenges and conceptual questions that are raised by studying such complex systems....