Crystallography News and Research

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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

Rejected antibiotic candidate could be worth a second look, research finds

An antibiotic candidate compound shelved in the 1970s in favour of more worthwhile drugs could be worth a second look, new research has found.

15 Dec 2017

Researchers solve 3D structure of primary optogenetic tool

An international team of researchers from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Forschungszentrum Jülich, the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, the Institut de Biologie Structurale, and the Max Planck Institute of Biophysics has determined the 3-D structure of channelrhodopsin 2, a membrane protein widely used in optogenetics to control nerve cells with light.

28 Nov 2017

Scientists develop new approach to combating antibiotic resistance

A team of researchers have developed a way of preventing the transfer of antibiotic resistance genes between bacteria.

22 Nov 2017

Researchers find new way to boost cancer-destroying ability of T-cells

Researchers at Cardiff University have found a way to boost the cancer-destroying ability of the immune system's T-cells, offering new hope in the fight against a wide range of cancers.

20 Nov 2017

Neutron crystallography study could open avenues for new drugs to battle diseases

Scientists at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have performed neutron structural analysis of a vitamin B6-dependent protein, potentially opening avenues for new antibiotics and drugs to battle diseases such as drug-resistant tuberculosis, malaria, and diabetes.

1 Nov 2017

IBN researchers create DNA technology with two new genetic alphabets

Just like how alphabets are strung together to form words, our DNA is also strung together by alphabets to encode proteins. Our DNA contains only 4 natural genetic alphabets - A, C, G and T, which hold the blueprint for the production of proteins that make our bodies work.

26 Oct 2017

Fundamental discovery may open potential for new types of cancer drugs

Many approved cancer therapies target a protein called epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) that regulates many crucial cellular processes and can speed the proliferation of tumor cells.

11 Oct 2017

Researchers use multi-modal integrated approach to develop potential anti-Chagas therapies

Chagas disease is a potentially life-threatening illness caused by the parasite, Trypanosoma cruzi, and is transmitted to humans through triatomine blood-sucking bugs that are commonly referred to as "kissing bugs" or "vampire bugs".

26 Sep 2017

Researchers design novel small antibody fragment with improved crystallizability

Antibodies are a powerful weapon system in defending our body against invaders such as bacteria and viruses. Each antibody consists of four polypeptide chains: two heavy chains and two light chains joined to form a Y-shaped molecule.

21 Sep 2017

Molecular map shows novel way to stop dangerous bioweapon

During World War II, the Soviet Red Army was forced to move their biological warfare operations out of the path of advancing Nazi troops. Among the dangerous cargo were vials of Francisella tularensis, the organism that causes tularemia and one of the world's most infectious pathogens.

6 Sep 2017

Researchers identify control mechanisms of synapse formation

DGIST announced that the research team of Professor Ko Jae-won at the Department of Brain & Cognitive Sciences and the research team of Professor Kim Ho-min at KAIST conducted a joint research and observed the three-dimensional structure of proteins that regulate neuronal cell connections for the first time in the world and have identified the control mechanisms of synapse formation.

21 Aug 2017

Study sheds new light on how anti-cancer agent inhibits tumor growth

Researchers at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute have published a study in Nature Communications shedding new light on how K-80003 (TX803), an anti-cancer agent discovered at the Institute, prevents activation of the PI3K pathway, resulting in inhibition of cancer cell growth.

4 Aug 2017