Crystallography News and Research

RSS

Study: Antibodies against hemorrhagic fever disarm two viruses of same family

Hemorrhagic fever viruses, so named for their ability to induce massive, and at times fatal, internal bleeding, captured the world's attention during the Ebola outbreak of 2014-2016 in West Africa.

15 May 2018

TUM researchers unravel mechanism of action for one of pore-forming bacterial toxins

Pore-forming toxins are common bacterial poisons. They attack organisms by introducing holes in cell membranes.

7 May 2018

3D structures of nicotine receptor could lead to new ways for treating addiction

UT Southwestern researchers today published in Nature atomic-scale blueprints of the most abundant class of brain nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. A structural understanding of the protein, found in neurons, could lead to new ways to treat nicotine addiction from smoking and vaping.

3 May 2018

New mosquito automated liquid handling system hastens research into protein-based therapeutics

AXT have recently completed the installation of an automated liquid handling system at the Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand.

From SPT Labtech 2 May 2018

High-tech microscope reveals how cancer-causing virus anchors itself to human DNA

Using a homemade, high-tech microscope, scientists at the University of Virginia School of Medicine have revealed how a cancer-causing virus anchors itself to our DNA. That discovery could pave the way for doctors to cure incurable diseases by flushing out viruses, including HPV and Epstein-Barr, that now permanently embed themselves in our cells.

20 Apr 2018

Researchers create new compound that appears to activate cancer-fighting T cells

Invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells are powerful weapons our body's immune systems count on to fight infection and combat diseases like cancer, multiple sclerosis, and lupus. Finding ways to spark these potent cells into action could lead to more effective cancer treatments and vaccines.

2 Apr 2018

AXT installs state-of-the-art crystallography system at University of Western Australia

AXT have recently completed the first Australian installation of a XtaLAB Synergy-S protein X-ray crystallography system from Rigaku Oxford Diffraction in Australia, the world leaders in crystallography.

From AXT Pty Ltd 30 Mar 2018

Biophysical mechanism involving spaghetti-like proteins helps cells avoid 'data breaches'

Cells can avoid "data breaches" when letting signaling proteins into their nuclei thanks to a quirky biophysical mechanism involving a blur of spaghetti-like proteins, researchers from the Rockefeller University and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine have shown.

28 Mar 2018

Novel method accelerates development of drugs

One of the key steps in developing new drugs is determining the atomic structure of its biologically active substances. This generally involves performing X-ray analyses of single crystal structures to determine the ingredient's detailed three-dimensional set-up. However, growing suitable single crystals is often a complex and time-consuming process.

26 Mar 2018

Researchers aim to decipher molecular architecture of microtubule-organizing centers

Cell division is an intricately choreographed ballet of proteins and molecules that divide the cell. During mitosis, microtubule-organizing centers assemble the spindle fibers that separate the copying chromosomes of DNA.

20 Feb 2018

Resolving Interfacial Protein Dynamics by STReM

STReM stands for Super Time-Resolved Microscopy, and as STORM, PALM, and other methods are designed to improve spatial resolution of optical microscopy, we desire to improve the time resolution. STReM makes use of point spread function engineering to encode fast events into each camera frame.

From Pittcon 16 Feb 2018

Producing Super-Swelled Lyotropic Monocrystals for Drug Development

An interview with Dr. Cecília Leal, about a new method for producing bicontinuous cubic phases that are super-swollen and exist as monocrystals in solution.

15 Feb 2018

Researchers solve crystal structure for enzyme that plays key role in DNA methylation

A research team led by a biochemist at the University of California, Riverside has solved the crystal structure for an enzyme that plays a key role in DNA methylation, the process by which methyl groups are added to the DNA molecule.

7 Feb 2018

Computer-based models reveal optimal conditions for killing harmful bacteria

Bacteria, transformed into dormant spores, can survive millions of years in extreme environments, threatening human life in the form of food poisoning and the biological weapon anthrax. But understanding how bacteria adapt to hostile environments has largely remained a mystery--until now.

1 Feb 2018

New molecular research shows how antidepressants work

New molecular research shows how chemically diverse drugs used to treat depression and anxiety disorders interact with the protein that transports serotonin in the brain.

29 Jan 2018

A new strategy proposed for drug discovery

A joint industry/academia study of a cancer target protein reveals unusual relation between binding site flexibility and drug-target lifetime.

17 Jan 2018

RAS dimers essential for causing cancer, study shows

Mutated RAS genes are some of the most common genetic drivers of cancer, especially in aggressive cancers like pancreatic and lung cancer, but no medicines that target RAS are available despite decades of effort.

12 Jan 2018

New TSRI study uncovers workings of first potential treatment for Marburg virus

With a mortality rate of up to 88 percent, Marburg virus can rip through a community in days. In 2005, an outbreak of Marburg virus struck a pediatric ward in the country of Angola. With no treatment available, doctors struggled to help as the virus killed 329 of 374 infected patients.

11 Jan 2018

Discovery of key protein’s structure may help improve drug design

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have peered deep into the heart of a key protein used in drug design and discovered dynamic structural features that may lead to new ways to target diseases.

29 Dec 2017

UW study finds how tightly bound protein complexes are broken apart to become inactivated

A new study by University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers identified the structural basis for how tightly bound protein complexes are broken apart to become inactivated.

22 Dec 2017