Crystallography News and Research

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3D protein structure reveals new drug targets for cancer, neurodegenerative diseases

Protein Kinase C (PKC) is a family of enzymes that controls the activity of other proteins in a cell by attaching chemical tags. That simple act helps determine cell survival or death.

14 Aug 2015

Study determines structure of plant hormone that helps regulate plants’ responses to insects, microorganisms

An international collaboration including scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute has determined the structure of a plant hormone that plays a crucial role in regulating plants’ responses to insects and disease-causing microorganisms as well as normal growth and development.

12 Aug 2015

Scientists use highly specialized X-ray crystallography technique to solve protein structure of HIFs

In a collaborative study between Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute and the Argonne National Laboratory, scientists have used a highly specialized X-ray crystallography technique to solve the protein structure of hypoxia-inducible factors (HIFs), important regulators of a tumor's response to low oxygen (hyopoxia).

6 Aug 2015

Natural protein fragment produced in the brain can inhibit enzyme implicated in Alzheimer's disease

For the first time, UCLA researchers have shown that a natural protein fragment produced in the brain can act as an inhibitor of a key enzyme implicated in the onset of Alzheimer's disease, a finding that could lead to the development of new drugs to treat the disease.

30 Jul 2015

Vital molecular mechanism in plants has similarities to certain signaling mechanisms in humans

Scientists at Van Andel Research Institute have revealed an important molecular mechanism in plants that has significant similarities to certain signaling mechanisms in humans, which are closely linked to early embryonic development and to diseases such as cancer.

25 Jul 2015

NDSU assistant professor receives NIH grant to study regulation of transporters in Gram-negative bacteria

Christopher Colbert, assistant professor of biochemistry at North Dakota State University, Fargo, has received a $348,000 grant award from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health to conduct research on structure-function relationships of iron transport and transcriptional regulation in Gram-negative bacteria.

20 Jul 2015

Umeå University researchers capture and describe 'invisible' protein structure

A research group at Umeå University in Sweden has managed to capture and describe a protein structure that, until now, has been impossible to study. The discovery lays the base for developing designed enzymes as catalysts to new chemical reactions for instance in biotechnological applications.

3 Jul 2015

Imaging proteasome complex helps show target site for potential cancer drugs

Scientists have pioneered the use of a high-powered imaging technique to picture in exquisite detail one of the central proteins of life - a cellular recycling unit with a role in many diseases.

3 Jul 2015

Domainex’s new integrated bioassay service platform accelerates progression of drug discovery projects

Domainex Ltd, a private drug discovery service company, today announces that it is launching an integrated bioassay service platform, BioassayBuilder.

2 Jul 2015

HIV capsid protein plays crucial role in the virus' life cycle

HIV, or human immunodeficiency virus, is the retrovirus that leads to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome or AIDS. Globally, about 35 million people are living with HIV, which constantly adapts and mutates creating challenges for researchers. Now, scientists at the University of Missouri are gaining a clearer idea of what a key protein in HIV looks like, which will help explain its vital role in the virus' life cycle.

2 Jul 2015

New study reveals key part of Ebola virus life cycle at higher resolution than ever before

A new study led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) reveals a key part of the Ebola virus life cycle at a higher resolution than ever before. The research sheds light on how Ebola virus assembles—and how researchers might stop the often-fatal infection.

26 Jun 2015

New research sheds light on molecular architecture of receptors linked to many brain diseases

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have teamed up with several other institutions and pharmaceutical companies, including the University of Southern California (USC), San Diego's Receptos Inc. and Japanese company Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., to publish the first 3D structures of a receptor implicated in many diseases of the brain and in normal physiology throughout the body.

22 Jun 2015

Biochemists devise snappy new technique for blueprinting cell membrane proteins

Biochemists from Trinity College Dublin have devised a new technique that will make the difficult but critical job of blueprinting certain proteins considerably faster, cheaper and easier.

5 Jun 2015

Berkeley Lab offers 'on-demand' X-rays

Consumers are now in the era of "on-demand" entertainment, in which they have access to the books, music and movies they want thanks to the internet. Likewise, scientists who use synchrotron light sources are welcoming an era of "on-demand" X-rays, in which they have access to the light beams they want thanks to a technique developed at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab).

27 May 2015

TSRI scientists map out protein structure involved in cellular function, nervous system development

Scientists from The Scripps Research Institute, working closely with researchers at the National Institutes of Health, have mapped out the structure of an important protein involved in cellular function and nervous system development.

12 May 2015

Two world-renowned scientists receive Poland-U.S. Science Award

World-renowned scientists -- Prof. Mariusz Jaskólski of Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Poland, and Dr. Alexander Wlodawer of the National Cancer Institute, USA -- are the first winners of the Poland-U.S. Science Award granted jointly by the Foundation for Polish Science and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the world's largest scientific association.

29 Apr 2015

New pre-validated fluorinated fragment library boosts drug screening efficiency

Researchers engaged in drug discovery can now benefit from a new library of fluorinated compounds with superior drug-like characteristics...

From Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. 14 Apr 2015

Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology graduate university completes installation of new Talos Arctica Cryo-TEM from FEI

FEI has completed the installation of a new Talos Arctica™ cryo-transmission electron microscope (TEM) at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University in Japan...

From Thermo Fisher Scientific – Electron Microscopy Solutions 8 Apr 2015

Researchers reveal molecular structure of cytotoxin from Mycoplasma pneumoniae

Researchers from the School of Medicine at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio today revealed the molecular structure of the cytotoxin from Mycoplasma pneumoniae, a widespread, highly contagious bacterium that infects the lungs.

8 Apr 2015

NIH awards $2.1 million grant to counter antibiotic resistance in Gram-negative bacteria

The National Institutes of Health has awarded Dr. Walter Fast, associate professor of medicinal chemistry at The University of Texas at Austin's College of Pharmacy, a four-year $2.1 million grant to develop small-molecules that counter antibiotic resistance in Gram-negative bacteria. If successful, the research could lead to new drugs for treating bacterial infections that are resistant to most antibiotics.

1 Apr 2015