Structural dynamics of a nanomachine: investigating structure-to-function properties of large, flexible, DNA-associating proteins

Proteins, the working tools of each and every cell, are able to carry out and catalyse all processes essential for cellular metabolism and survival. Every protein is equipped with a set of specific properties, e.g. catalytic or structural features, that enable them to fulfil specific tasks necessary for the proper functioning of the cell. Moreover, proteins and peptides can assemble in intricate, multicomponent arrays, that further increases the efficiency and specificity of performed tasks, thus functioning as biological nanomachines. As in every machine, or tool, structure and structural dynamics are inseparable with protein’ function. With the recent developments in techniques utilized to study protein structure, advances in understanding protein function had been remarkable, however, big, flexible proteins prove difficult to study and very often remain outside the scope of conventional biochemical investigations. The aim of this thesis was to employ Scanning Force Microscopy (SFM) to investigate structure-to- function relations of proteins which size and structural dynamics are limiting factors in most biochemical approaches.