Structure, assembly and dynamics of macromolecular complexes by single particle cryo-electron microscopy

Background Proteins in their majority act rarely as single entities. Multisubunit macromolecular complexes are the actors in most of the cellular processes. These nanomachines are hold together by weak protein-protein interactionsand undergo functionally important conformational changes. TFIID is such a multiprotein complexacting in eukaryotic transcriptioninitiation. This complex is first to be recruited to the promoter of the genes and triggers the formation of the transcription preinitiation complexinvolving RNA polymerase IIwhich leads to gene transcription. The exact role of TFIID in this process is not yet understood.