Some lessons from the systematic production and structural analysis of soluble αβ T-cell receptors

T-cell receptors (TCRs) are membrane proteins which recognize antigens with high specificity forming the basis of the cellular immune response. The study of these receptors has been limited by the challenges in expressing sufficient quantities of stable soluble protein. Here we report our systematic approach for generating soluble, αβ-TCRs, for X-ray crystallographic studies. By using small-scale expression screens, novel standardized quality control mechanisms and crystallization and imaging robots we were able to add significantly to the current TCR structural database. Our success in crystallizing both isolated TCRs and Major histocompatibility complex (MHC):TCR complexes has provided us with sufficient data to develop focused crystallization screens, which have proved generically useful for the crystallization of this family of proteins and complexes.