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About Challenging Proteins
 Since the publication of several sequenced genomes and the subsequent increased focus on the study of proteins, our knowledge and understanding of the structural and functional biology of these biomolecules has increased dramatically.
Early efforts concentrated on soluble proteins due to the less demanding requirements for overexpression, purification, and crystallization. Generation of structures for soluble proteins has now entered the high-throughout stage, with over 25,000 structures deposited in databases.
Challenges
The need to study more difficult proteins is clear given that:
- more than 30% of a typical cell’s proteins are membrane proteins, and 60-70% of the current drug targets are based on membrane proteins
- while carrying out their enzymatic, structural, or regulatory functions, proteins most often interact with each other forming stable or transient complexes
For membrane proteins, the challenges are overexpression to produce enough material, solubilization while preserving structural integrity, and maintenance of biological activity for functional study. Refolding of denatured proteins to a native and active form is the challenge for insoluble proteins, while researchers studying protein complexes face expression, stability, and purity issues.
Solutions
View the webinar Overcoming purification challenges with difficult proteins
Questions asked during the webinar
 
Read the Challenging protein purification handbook
To read more about the study of Challenging Proteins and the tools, strategies, and solutions available to meet the challenges, click on the sections listed in the navigation bar above.
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