Technology Cores

The HARC Center includes two Technology Cores that serve the projects and innovate new essential methods that can be applied to imaging other macromolecular complexes.

The Mass Spectrometry (MS) and Protein Expression Core focuses on a major bottleneck to structure determination--the production of properly folded proteins and assembled complexes. The Core develops and uses sophisticated MS and computational approaches to validate complexes between host proteins and HIV proteins, some of which may exist only transiently. The same approach can be used to identify new interaction partners. The core also develops and uses a wide range of compatible expression vectors, co-expression strategies for multiple partners and high-throughput screens for solubility and crystallization, in addition to biophysical measurements to assess the folding and assembly of proteins and complexes.

The Cryo-EM Core develops cutting-edge methods for single particle cryo-EM, pushing the low molecular weight envelope for such methods. The Core also develops procedures to use cryo-EM and cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET) to analyze structural heterogeneity.

HARC Center Mass Spectrometry and Protein Expression Core
Co-Director: Charles Craik	Genentech Hall S512B	craik@cgl.ucsf.edu
Co-Director: Nevan Krogan	QB3 408E	krogan@cmp.ucsf.edu
HARC Center Cryo-Electron Microscopy Core
Director: Yifan Cheng	Genentech Hall S312B	ycheng@biochem.ucsf.edu