Probing in cell protein structural changes with time-resolved X-ray scattering

Investigating protein structural changes inside the cell is a major goal in molecular biology. Here we show that time-resolved wide-angle X-ray scattering is a valuable tool for this purpose. Hemoglobin has been chosen as a model system and its tertiary and quaternary conformational changes following laser flash-photolysis have been tracked in intact red blood cells with nanosecond time resolution.