Happy new year! 2017 is well and truly underway and progress is ongoing for the huntingtin structure project. Prof Susan Lea has been busy collecting data for me on her microscope throughout the holidays. This approach, called cry-electron microscopy, which allows us to image individual particles of the huntingtin molecule. Susan has worked hard to not only collect these images but process them but also to start to calculated what the individual protein molecules look in 2D, a process called 2D averaging. Susan’s pdates can be read with no restriction on Zenodo.

Examples of 2D averages calculated from imaging the grids – each white “blob” is a different view of the huntingtin protein molecule. We can use these different views to build a 3D model.

These coming weeks I plan to continue my work with the huntingtin domain constructs, trying to purify smaller fragments of the protein. I also hope to continue working with Jeff Carroll and continue to characterise the covalent modifications we find on the surface of the huntingtin protein. I hope to have more to updates you on soon!