Crystallography News and Research

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Novel nanoscale display case could help reveal structure of hard-to-study molecules

Researchers at the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and UC Berkeley have created a sort of nanoscale display case that enables new atomic-scale views of hard-to-study chemical and biological samples.

19 Aug 2016

Researchers develop new hybrid method to study HIV protein involved in disease progression

More than 36 million people worldwide, including 1.2 million in the U.S., are living with an HIV infection. Today's anti-retroviral cocktails block how HIV replicates, matures and gets into uninfected cells, but they can't eradicate the virus.

3 Aug 2016

Scientists unveil structure of Zika NS1 protein

Researchers have revealed the molecular structure of a protein produced by the Zika virus that is thought to be involved in the virus's reproduction and its interaction with a host's immune system.

26 Jul 2016

Neutrons key to discovering new HIV drugs? An interview with Dr Matthew Blakeley

Neutron crystallography allows us to determine the three-dimensional structures of biological macromolecules, such as proteins, by means of the diffraction of neutrons from the regularly spaced atoms of a crystal.

21 Jul 2016

Scientists capture new images of calcium-shuttling molecule linked to aggressive cancers

Scientists have captured new images of a calcium-shuttling molecule that has been linked to aggressive cancers. The three-dimensional structure could help researchers develop novel therapies and diagnostic tools for diseases that are caused by a malfunction in calcium adsorption.

18 Jul 2016

Findings offer renewed hope for speedy development curative medicines for people with toxoplasmosis

In the July 14 edition of Scientific Reports (Nature), 39 researchers from 14 leading institutions in the United States, United Kingdom and France suggest novel approaches that could hasten the development of better medications for people suffering from toxoplasmosis.

17 Jul 2016

Researchers reveal molecular mechanism of autophagy initiation

Researchers revealed that Atg13 links autophagy initiation factors to each other using a string-like conformation, thereby promoting the association of diverse elements of the autophagy initiation machinery, initiating autophagosome formation through the recruitment of Atg9 vesicles and phosphorylation of various Atg factors.

12 Jul 2016

Researchers uncover sensing mechanism of food poisoning bacteria found in shellfish

UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have uncovered a mechanism that a type of pathogenic bacteria found in shellfish use to sense when they are in the human gut, where they release toxins that cause food poisoning.

5 Jul 2016

Scientists isolate antibodies capable of neutralizing dengue and Zika virus

Scientists from the Institut Pasteur and the CNRS, in collaboration with Imperial College London and the University of Vienna, Austria, have identified antibodies that can efficiently neutralize both the dengue virus and the Zika virus.

24 Jun 2016

UT Southwestern study offers more insight into cholesterol transporter

Using X-ray crystallography, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have determined the 3-D atomic structure of a human sterol transporter that helps maintain cholesterol balance.

27 May 2016

Breakthrough study observes structural changes in carbonic anhydrase for first time

A new study by an international team of researchers, affiliated with Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology has announced that they have succeeded for the first time in observing the structural changes in carbonic anhydrase.

24 May 2016

Understanding structure of HIV-1 protease vital to development of next-generation HIV drugs

HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, has become one of the world’s most serious health and development challenges.

24 May 2016

Cryo-EM technique allows researchers to visualize large transcription PICs at near-atomic resolution

An unprecedented molecular view of the critical early events in gene expression, a process essential for all life, has been provided by researchers at Georgia State University, the University of California at Berkeley and Northwestern University.

12 May 2016

Study opens door for new opportunities in finding antidotes to nerve agent sarin

The nerve agent sarin causes a deadly overstimulation of the nervous system that can be stopped if treated with an antidote within minutes of poisoning. Today, a ground-breaking study has been published in PNAS, which in detail describes how such a drug works. Researchers at the Swedish Defence Research Agency, Umea University and in Germany are behind the study.

3 May 2016

Snapshots of NMDA receptor activation may help in novel drug design

Structural biologists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and Janelia Research Campus/HHMI, have obtained snapshots of the activation of an important type of brain-cell receptor. Dysfunction of the receptor has been implicated in a range of neurological illnesses, including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, depression, seizure, schizophrenia, autism, and injuries related to stroke.

3 May 2016

TSRI study reveals important traits in LCMV, Lassa virus

For the first time, scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have solved the structure of the biological machinery used by a common virus to recognize and attack human host cells.

27 Apr 2016

Cambridge Pharmaceutical Cryo-EM Consortium formed by FEI, five pharmaceutical companies, the Medical Research Council and the University of Cambridge

FEI (NASDAQ: FEIC) has partnered with five pharmaceutical companies: Astex Pharmaceuticals, AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, Heptares Therapeutics, and UCB; the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology (MRC-LMB); and the University of Cambridge’s Nanoscience Centre, to form the “Cambridge Pharmaceutical Cryo-EM Consortium,” which is the first of its kind worldwide.

From Thermo Fisher Scientific – Electron Microscopy Solutions 4 Apr 2016

Purdue University-led researchers determine structure of Zika virus

A team led by Purdue University researchers is the first to determine the structure of the Zika virus, which reveals insights critical to the development of effective antiviral treatments and vaccines.

1 Apr 2016

TSRI study shows hollowed-out version of CPMV could be effective in human therapies

Viruses aren't always bad. In fact, scientists can harness the capabilities of some viruses for good—modifying the viruses to carry drug molecules, for example.

29 Mar 2016

FEI, NovAliX to jointly provide cryo-EM-based structural analysis services for pharmaceutical and biotech industry

FEI and NovAliX, a contract research organization (CRO), announced today a strategic partnership to enable NovAliX to provide commercial cryo-electron microscopy (EM)-based structural analysis services to its customers in the pharmaceutical and biotech industry.

From Thermo Fisher Scientific – Electron Microscopy Solutions 23 Mar 2016