Introduction
This section will give a brief introduction to the paper. It will address why the study was done – the aim behind the attempt to study the protein of interest. A short historical account of the development of the area may be appropriate here, e.g. has any attempt been made to address this research question before? Have other methods been used to investigate the structure previously? What is known about the properties of the protein of interest? What did the researchers hope to find out by doing the study?
Theory behind the method
In this section you should provide a very simple introduction to the principles behind the method used in the paper in no more than two pages including figures. As always, this should be in your own words but you may use images from other sources with appropriate referencing (e.g. Figure x taken from Bloggs et al. (1995)).
Description of what was done
This section will address what was done in the paper, and the results that were obtained. You should cover/include the following:
• What factors were considered when deciding on the approach to use for the study?
• What did the sample preparation involve?
Case study
Here you will identify an instance where Cryo-EM, NMR or X-ray crystallography has been used to study a protein in a recent research paper. If you are unsure of the validity of a source, feel free to bring your item to a class session and check it with the teaching staff. You should clearly identify the paper you are studying by providing the citation for the paper in this section, and as the first reference in the bibliography.
Note: The paper may include other aspects that just the structural analysis of the protein/s, but you only need to discuss the method used for and the results of the experiments designed to study the structural aspect in this assignment.
Introduction
This section will give a brief introduction to the paper. It will address why the study was done – the aim behind the attempt to study the protein of interest. A short historical account of the development of the area may be appropriate here, e.g. has any attempt been made to address this research question before? Have other methods been used to investigate the structure previously? What is known about the properties of the protein of interest? What did the researchers hope to find out by doing the study?
Theory behind the method
In this section you should provide a very simple introduction to the principles behind the method used in the paper in no more than two pages including figures. As always, this should be in your own words but you may use images from other sources with appropriate referencing (e.g. Figure x taken from Bloggs et al. (1995)).
Description of what was done
This section will address what was done in the paper, and the results that were obtained. You should cover/include the following:
• What factors were considered when deciding on the approach to use for the study?
• What did the sample preparation involve?
• The results of the experiment. (Note: it is appropriate to show a figure from the paper here, with appropriate attribution in the legend e.g. “Figure 1, NMR structure of protein X, taken from Figure 2 of Smith et al. 2005(1)” where the number in parentheses reflects the source paper included in your reference list)
• The conclusions the authors reached: what it all means; why the study was useful or important; what aspect of the protein could be understood better from the study.
Critical analysis
In this section you should explain how the method used helped solve the “problem” the authors had addressed in their experimental question, and how the case study exemplifies the use of the technique. However, in addition you should discuss how another method could be used to complement and extend the analysis of the protein or protein-ligand interaction of interest. You should compare and contrast the advantages and disadvantages of the two techniques.
Optional: A critical analysis of the study could also be included here if you believe the study was flawed in some way. What are the weaknesses of the study? Could anything have been done better?
Annotated Bibliography
We expect that you will need to read more than just the case study paper to do this assignment properly. For example, you may need to look at some of the references cited in the case study paper to learn about what had been done before and the overall context of the study.
Each assignment will have a Bibliography (or reference list). It will be a minimum of five references and a maximum of twenty references. For your FIVE most valuable or useful references you should make an annotation that describes why those references are useful. Note that it is NOT appropriate to use your case study as one of the annotated references.
Here is the “ideal assignment” description again for reference. I would like you to follow this outline when you produce your assignments.
This document is a template for formatting styles. You are welcome to use this template directly for your assignment. Delete the text that is already included and add your own text instead.
The text styles are already applied for you. They are also included in the “Styles” tab for this document (under the “Home” tab).
The “Normal” text style is the one you are reading now. It is 12-point Times New Roman.
Figure 1: This is the figure legend style. Figure legends should be in this “Figure Legend” style – notice it is italics and in a different font to the rest of the text. Also notice how the Figure number and the title are in bold, then the rest of the legend is not in bold.
Your major heading will be in the Heading (Large) style.
Your subsequent headings will be in the Heading (Small) style.
The lines are single-spaced. The spacing between paragraphs is set up at 6 point. There is no need to add extra lines between paragraphs.
If you make a series of dot points then
• you can use the “Dot Points” style
• you don’t need to add extra lines between the dot points.
• just set the dot points up the way they are shown here
If you want to make a numbered list,
1) use the List Paragraph style
2) try not to use sub-lists in your numbered lists (eg: 1.1, 1.2, 1.1.1 etc)
3) you don’t need to add extra lines between your numbered list lines
Your assignment should include a header on each page as shown above, that includes the assignment name and your name.
Length of the assignment.
The main text of your assignment will be FIVE pages maximum length, with TWO additional pages for an annotated bibliography. Your entire assignment should not be longer than SEVEN pages. You may write less if you wish to.
Remember that the aim of this assignment is to produce something concise, well-written, and informative. The aim is not to write a long essay or a text book.
The assignment can include text boxes, figures, tables, internet links, and any other components that you believe can appropriately convey the message you want to communicate in your assignment. You are encouraged to put in pictures and tables whenever possible, because long paragraphs are difficult to read, and not visually appealing. There are better ways to convey information than a wall of words. However, if you include a figure or image from another source, make sure to cite the source in the legend to the image and include the citation in your reference list.