Across scales: novel insights into kidney health and disease by structural biology

Abstract

Over the past decades, structural biology methods such as X-ray crystallography and cryo-electron microscopy have been increasingly used to study protein functions, molecular interactions, physiological processes, and disease mechanisms. This review outlines a selection of structural biology methods, highlights recent examples of how structural analyses have contributed to a more profound understanding of the machinery of life, and gives a perspective on how these methods can be applied to investigate functions of kidney molecules and pathogenic mechanisms of renal diseases.

Keywords: X-ray crystallography; cryo-electron microscopy; integrin signaling; membranous nephropathy; rituximab; slit diaphragm.