Structural Biology News and Research

RSS

Newly developed computer models can simulate stem cell transplant recovery

Scientists at Virginia Commonwealth University have developed computer models that can simulate the recovery of the immune system in patients undergoing stem cell transplants.

18 Mar 2016

St. Jude scientists develop insights to guide development of powerful novel anti-influenza drugs

By analyzing the molecular details of how artificially created drug-resistant flu strains manage to survive treatment, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists have developed insights to guide development of powerful new anti-influenza drugs. These compounds will target a viral enzyme critical to the virus' proliferation in the body.

15 Mar 2016

UCSF study marks important step toward finding cure for Ebola

In experiments carried out partly at the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, scientists have determined in atomic detail how a potential drug molecule fits into and blocks a channel in cell membranes that Ebola and related "filoviruses" need to infect victims' cells.

15 Mar 2016

NIH-funded investigators develop therapeutic compound effective against malaria

An international team that includes NIH-funded researchers at Stanford University has developed a therapeutic compound that is effective in inhibiting Plasmodium falciparum, one of five species of parasite that infects people with malaria, and the strain which causes the highest number of malaria deaths.

13 Mar 2016

Scientists map biological networks of genes to gain new insights on disease mechanisms

Innovative software tools allowed the scientists to construct accurate "maps" of gene networks for about 400 different human cell and tissue types, ranging from immune cells to brain tissues, whereas previous studies were limited to just one or few tissues.

11 Mar 2016

Novel nanoparticle technology can decipher protein structures and help access drug targets

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet, Sweden, have developed a nanoparticle technology that can be used to stabilise membrane proteins so that their structure can be studied in a lipid environment. The method, described in Nature Methods, makes it possible to access drug targets that previously could not be investigated and therefore potentially allows for the development of novel drugs, therapeutic antibodies and vaccines.

9 Mar 2016

Scientists track rare potent antibodies in HIV-infected individual

One of the most crucial and elusive goals of an effective HIV vaccine is to stimulate antibodies that can attack the virus even as it relentlessly mutates.

4 Mar 2016

Unlocking H5N1 virus replication: an interview with Martin Blackledge

We were able to show that one small domain of the polymerase, the part that is essential for entry of a piece of the polymerase into the cell nucleus, changes its conformation to allow it to interact with the transporter protein than takes it into the nucleus.

3 Mar 2016

Revealing dynamic protein complexes with NMR: an interview with Elisar Barbar

Most proteins are involved in interactions with one or a few functional ligands, but some proteins, like light chain 8 (LC8), have numerous binding partners. LC8 interacts with more than 100 functionally different proteins, from viral proteins to motor proteins to proteins involved in cell division.

From Bruker BioSpin Group 18 Feb 2016

Unlocking intrinsically disordered proteins: an interview with Peter Wright

I'm a professor in the Department of Integrative Structural and Computational Biology at The Scripps Research Institute. I have been performing NMR research on proteins for nearly 40 years.

From Bruker BioSpin Group 11 Feb 2016

Lamin nucleoskeleton disordered in Alzheimer's

Brain cell death in Alzheimer's disease is linked to disruption of a skeleton that surrounds the nucleus of the cells, a researcher in the School of Medicine at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio said.

5 Feb 2016

Molecular imaging and radiochemistry: the importance of instrumentation. An interview with Professor Björn Wängler

Interview conducted with Professor Björn Wängler, Professor for Molecular Imaging and Radiochemistry from Heidelberg University.

From Bruker BioSpin Group 4 Feb 2016

Study finding could shed light on molecular mechanisms underlying Huntington's disease

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have shown that the core of the protein clumps found in the brains of people with Huntington's disease have a distinctive structure, a finding that could shed light on the molecular mechanisms underlying the neurodegenerative disorder.

4 Feb 2016

University of Leicester researchers publish structural details of protein linked to many types of cancer

A team from the University of Leicester has for the first time published a detailed description of a protein linked to many types of cancer.

27 Jan 2016

Researchers identify protein structure linked to pain and heat perception

Touch a hot stove, and your fingers will recoil in pain because your skin carries tiny temperature sensors that detect heat and send a message to your brain saying, "Ouch! That's hot! Let go!"

19 Jan 2016

Researchers identify 124 protein targets of artemisinin in most pathogenic malaria parasite

A team of researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) has uncovered the mystery behind the potent parasite-killing effect of artemisinin, a drug that is considered to be the last line of defence against malaria. Given the emergence of artemisinin resistance, these findings could potentially lead to the design of new treatments against drug-resistant parasites.

24 Dec 2015

NUS scientists uncover mystery behind potent parasite-killing effect of artemisinin

A team of researchers from the National University of Singapore has uncovered the mystery behind the potent parasite-killing effect of artemisinin, a drug that is considered to be the last line of defence against malaria. Given the emergence of artemisinin resistance, these findings could potentially lead to the design of new treatments against drug-resistant parasites.

23 Dec 2015

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital gets approval for new graduate school of biomedical sciences

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital has received a unanimous vote of approval from the Tennessee Higher Education Commission for the opening of a new graduate school of biomedical sciences.

23 Dec 2015

TSRI scientists track how HIV-fighting antibodies develop over time

In a new study, a team led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute tracked how a family of these HIV-fighting antibodies develops over time. The research shows how a future vaccine might trigger the immune system to produce these antibodies more effectively.

16 Dec 2015

Antibiotic resistance may help find drugs to combat amyloid formation

Amyloid diseases such as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and type-2 diabetes pose a particular problem for drug designers because they do not present a clear target structure to aim at.

15 Dec 2015