Crystallography News and Research

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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

Llama-derived antibodies open door to development of new treatments for C. difficile infections

Researchers from the Alberta Glycomics Centre at the University of Calgary and the University of Alberta, in collaboration with researchers at the National Research Council of Canada in Ottawa, have revealed the first molecular views showing how highly specific antibodies derived from llamas may provide a new method for controlling deadly infections from the opportunistic bacterial pathogen Clostridium difficile (C. difficile).

31 Jan 2014

Structural biologists advance efforts to develop new drugs targeting NMDA receptors in brain

Structural biologists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) and collaborators at Emory University have obtained important scientific results likely to advance efforts to develop new drugs targeting NMDA receptors in the brain.

23 Jan 2014

Researchers find new candidate that may help combat malaria

Two of the most urgent challenges for scientists are the battles against food shortages and infectious diseases like malaria. Unfortunately, both the herbicides used to protect plants and the anti-infectives that shield us from disease rapidly lose their effectiveness as the target organisms develop resistance. In order to benefit both fields at once, scientists tested lead compounds from agrochemical research against infectious germs as well.

21 Jan 2014

Brown University biochemist targets diabetes

People with type 2 diabetes can make insulin but their bodies use it so poorly that glucose levels run amok. It's been difficult for scientists to understand what's going awry in the way that tiny, fast-moving proteins signal and regulate glucose metabolism. As a result, while drugs can help somewhat, many patients still must monitor their glucose and inject insulin.

10 Jan 2014

Scientists reveal atomic-level view of genetic defect that causes myotonic dystrophy type 2

Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have revealed an atomic-level view of a genetic defect that causes a form of muscular dystrophy, myotonic dystrophy type 2, and have used this information to design drug candidates with potential to counter those defects—and reverse the disease.

6 Jan 2014