The Lamers lab has discovered how certain proteins ensure that mistakes made in DNA during replication are repaired. They used cryo-electron microscopy to make the MutS protein, also known as 'the guardian of our genome', visible. This enabled the discovery of how this single protein is able to coordinate this essential DNA repair process from beginning to end. The results of this study have been published in the scientific journal Nature Stucture and Molecular Biology.
The LUMC researchers explain this in their most recent publication. "We were able to make the protein MutS visible with an advanced electron microscope whereby proteins are frozen. This allowed us to study the protein from different angles and to use computer models to create a 3D structure that helped us to determine its molecular composition. As a result, we discovered that the protein can take on many different forms. This molecular acrobatics enables the protein to attract multiple proteins and thus coordinate the entire DNA repair process."