Determination and uses of the atomic structures of ribosomes and ribosomal subunits and their ligand complexes

摘要

The present invention provides methods for producing high resolution crystals of ribosomes and ribosomal subunits as well as the crystals produced by such methods. The x-ray diffraction patterns of the crystals provided by the present invention are of sufficiently high resolution for determining the three-dimensional structure of ribosomes and ribosomal subunits, for identifying ligand binding sites on ribosomes and ribosomal subunits, and for molecular modeling of ligands which interact with ribosomes and ribosomal subunits. The present invention provides methods for identifying ribosome-related ligands and methods for designing ligands with specific ribosome-binding properties. Thus, the methods of the present invention may be used to produce ligands which are designed to kill or inhibit any specific target organism(s).