Before I can begin characterizing the USP5 protein, I first needed to make some protein sample to work with. I expressed and purified the zinc-finger domain protein in bacteria and ended up with a high yield of a sample which is very pure. All of my methods and data from this experiment can be found on Zenodo.
Purified USP5 protein fractions
Now I will use this protein sample to conduct a number of different experiments including the development of assays which will explore interactions of small molecules with the USP5 ubiquitin binding pocket. I am also interested in trying some crystallization experiments where I hope to grow crystals which would allow me to solve the structure, perhaps with some of these small molecules bound. The apo structure is already known so I will try to reproduce their crystals in the first instance. More on that to come soon!