Crystallography News and Research

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Protein Data Bank now contains over 100,000 structures

Spanning the globe from the US, UK, and Japan, the Worldwide Protein Data Bank (wwPDB) organization announces that the Protein Data Bank archive now contains more than 100,000 entries.

14 May 2014

Debiopharm signs new license and research agreement with Yale University

Debiopharm Group™ (Debiopharm), a Swiss-based global biopharmaceutical company developing prescription drugs that target unmet medical needs as well as companion diagnostics, announced it has signed a new license and research agreement with Yale University (Yale), a premier university with a long tradition of basic and clinical biomedical research, regarding the discovery of MIF inhibitors for treatment of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.

6 May 2014

TSRI scientists discover new HIV target

A team led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) working with the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) has discovered a new vulnerable site on the HIV virus. The newly identified site can be attacked by human antibodies in a way that neutralizes the infectivity of a wide variety of HIV strains.

25 Apr 2014

Novel method could help kidney stone sufferers receive correct, effective treatment

Researchers in France have hit on a novel method to help kidney stone sufferers ensure they receive the correct and most effective treatment possible.

21 Apr 2014

New research may help scientists develop treatments or vaccines for Dengue fever

Two recent papers by a University of Colorado School of Medicine researcher and colleagues may help scientists develop treatments or vaccines for Dengue fever, West Nile virus, Yellow fever, Japanese encephalitis and other disease-causing flaviviruses.

18 Apr 2014

Research provides fresh insight into structure of sodium channels

Sodium channels are implicated in many serious conditions such as heart disease, epilepsy and pain, making them an important potential target for drug therapies. Unfortunately, there is still much scientists do not know about the molecules.

18 Apr 2014

Research opens new possibilities for blocking runaway cell division in cancer

The structure of a key part of the machinery that allows cells to divide has been identified by researchers at the University of California, Davis -- opening new possibilities for throwing a wrench in the machine and blocking runaway cell division in cancer.

9 Apr 2014

UCLA scientist wins $3M gift for research on structural properties of key proteins in kidney

UCLA Scientist Dr. Ira Kurtz has received a $3 million gift from the Donald T. Sterling Foundation to fund research on the structural properties of key proteins in the kidney that affect its function in health and disease.

2 Apr 2014

NIH awarded five-year grant of up to $28 million to fight deadly Ebola virus

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded a five-year grant of up to $28 million to establish a new center for excellence to find an antibody "cocktail" to fight the deadly Ebola virus.

21 Mar 2014

Rice University technique able to analyze conformations of complex molecular machines

Open, feed, cut. Such is the humdrum life of a motor molecule, the subject of new research at Rice University, that eats and excretes damaged proteins and turns them into harmless peptides for disposal.

18 Mar 2014

Drug that blocks LTA4 hydrolase enzyme plays key role in body's inflammatory response

There have been great expectations regarding the production of a drug to block the enzyme LTA4 hydrolase, which plays a key role in the body's inflammatory response.

4 Mar 2014

Scientists report major step forward in determining specific behavior of PP1 enzyme

In the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a team of scientists at Brown University reports a major step forward in determining the specific behavior of the ubiquitous enzyme PP1 implicated in a wide range of diseases including cancer.

4 Mar 2014

3D structure of enzyme helps defend against bacteria

An essential weapon in the body's fight against infection has come into sharper view. Researchers at Princeton University have discovered the 3D structure of an enzyme that cuts to ribbons the genetic material of viruses and helps defend against bacteria.

3 Mar 2014

Researchers produce extremely accurate and detailed images of "toxic injections"

Bacteria have developed many different ways of smuggling their toxic cargo into cells. Tripartite Tc toxin complexes, which are used by bacteria like the plague pathogen Yersinia pestis and the insect pathogen Photorhabdus luminescens, are particularly unusual.

25 Feb 2014

Researchers find that single genetic mutation causes resistance to DDT and pyrethroids

Researchers from LSTM have found that a single genetic mutation causes resistance to DDT and pyrethroids (an insecticide class used in mosquito nets). With the continuing rise of resistance the research, published in the journal Genome Biology, is key as scientists say that this knowledge could help improve malaria control strategies.

25 Feb 2014

Researchers find new ways to elucidate creation of toxic oligomers associated with Alzheimer's disease

Researchers studying peptides using the Gordon supercomputer at the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) have found new ways to elucidate the creation of the toxic oligomers associated with Alzheimer's disease.

19 Feb 2014

Research findings may help combat MRSA

A research team from Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn., is the first to decipher the 3-D structure of a protein that confers antibiotic resistance from one of the most worrisome disease agents: a strain of bacteria called methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), which can cause skin and other infections. The Vanderbilt team's findings may be an important step in combatting the MRSA public health threat over the next 5 to 10 years.

17 Feb 2014

Finding could lead to first effective vaccine against respiratory syncytial virus

Vanderbilt University scientists have contributed to a major finding, reported today in the journal Nature, which could lead to the first effective vaccine against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), a significant cause of infant mortality.

9 Feb 2014

TSRI scientists discover unusual protein that probably helps some bacteria evade immune response

A team led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) has discovered an unusual bacterial protein that attaches to virtually any antibody and prevents it from binding to its target. Protein M, as it is called, probably helps some bacteria evade the immune response and establish long-term infections.

7 Feb 2014

TSRI scientists design artificial proteins as a candidate vaccine against RSV

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have invented a new method for designing artificial proteins, and have used it to make key ingredients for a candidate vaccine against a dangerous virus, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), a significant cause of infant mortality.

6 Feb 2014