Probing protein structure with... neutrons

In this thesis, I present a review of my work in neutron scattering applied to protein structural studies, which corresponds to approximately the last six years of my own research. I will first introduce the scientific context of my work by situating SANS and SNR in the landscape of protein structural biology (Chapter 1). As these techniques are relatively little used in biology, I will review the principles of both techniques. In particular, I will discuss their complementarity with higher resolution techniques and the advantages of the contrast variation method. I will then deal more specifically with two themes in which I have been able to use contrast variation to determine, in collaboration with biologists, the structure of proteins in complex environments: (i) biological assemblies composed of proteins interacting with a partner, in particular membrane lipids (Chapter 2); (ii) proteins subjected to highly concentrated environments or under pressure (Chapter 3). The low-resolution protein structures obtained in these studies have enabled us to gain a better understanding of the function of these proteins, with a view to possible applications, notably in the biomedical field. (author)