To prepare samples for addressing biological questions, our group makes use of a range of molecular biology and biochemical techniques. All biological work is conducted in the laboratories of Prof. Dr. Martin Pos, who has kindly granted us access to his facilities. We perform recombinant protein expression in Escherichia coli to obtain target proteins in sufficient quantities and purity for downstream mass spectromic analyses. Where needed, site-directed mutagenesis via PCR allows us to introduce precise amino acid substitutions into our proteins of interest, enabling us to investigate how specific mutations affect protein stability, interactions or activity. Proteins are characterized using standard biochemical methods including SDS-PAGE, Western blotting, and size-exclusion chromatography to assess purity, identity, and oligomeric state. Thermal shift assays are additionally used to probe protein stability and screen for ligand interactions.