Crystallography News and Research

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Los Alamos National Laboratory identifies 'Top 10 Laboratory science stories of 2009'

Los Alamos National Laboratory (www.lanl.gov) has identified the Top 10 Laboratory science stories of 2009 based on global viewership of online media content and major programmatic milestones.

9 Jan 2010

Researchers discover rules that dictate the three-dimensional shapes of RNA molecules

University of Michigan researchers have discovered the rules that dictate the three-dimensional shapes of RNA molecules, rules that are based not on complex chemical interactions but simply on geometry.

8 Jan 2010

Emerald BioStructures engineers new allosteric small molecule modulators of the PDE4 enzyme

Emerald BioStructures (formerly deCODE biostructures) announced today a publication in the December 27, 2009 advance online issue of Nature Biotechnology, detailing the application of structure-based drug design (SBDD) to engineer new allosteric small molecule modulators of the enzyme phosphodiesterase-4 (PDE4), with reduced side effects. According to the paper, the researchers established the structural basis of PDE4 regulation through crystal structures of the PDE4 regulatory domain in contact with small molecules.

29 Dec 2009

Publication validates company's structure-based approach for addressing undruggable targets

28 Dec 2009

New compound may halt drug-resistant lung cancer

The ability to make, test, and map the atomic structure of new anti-cancer agents has enabled a team of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute scientists to discover a compound capable of halting a common type of drug-resistant lung cancer.

24 Dec 2009

Celebrex stops aspirin from doing its job effectively

Millions of Americans take Celebrex for arthritis or other pain. Many, if they are middle-aged or older, also take a low-dose aspirin tablet daily to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke. Yet they may be getting little protection, because Celebrex keeps the aspirin from doing its job effectively, a new study suggests.

15 Dec 2009

Breakthrough findings may lead to new treatments for Ebola hemorrhagic fever

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have determined the structure of a critical protein from the Ebola virus, which, though rare, is one of the deadliest viruses on the planet killing between 50 and 90 percent of those infected.

9 Dec 2009

VARI scientists determine the structure of receptors that plants use to sense ABA

Van Andel Research Institute (VARI) researchers have determined precisely how the plant hormone abscisic acid (ABA) works at the molecular level to help plants respond to environmental stresses such as drought and cold.

3 Dec 2009

DALSA to showcase its Helios10 MD panel at the RSNA 2009

DALSA Corporation, through its Rad-icon Imaging division, today announced general availability of the Helios10 MD panel, the first product in the company's new Helios camera family. With an active area of 20 x 25 cm, the Helios10 MD is the first CMOS X-Ray panel from DALSA of this size and form factor, a medical-grade cassette package with an integrated handle.

30 Nov 2009

Copper sequestering drug tetrathiomolybdate shown to be effective in treating Wilson disease

The copper sequestering drug tetrathiomolybdate (TM) has been shown in studies to be effective in the treatment of Wilson disease, a disease caused by an overload of copper, and certain metastatic cancers.

27 Nov 2009

Researchers uncover atomic-level action of ring-shaped protein motors

The atomic-level action of a remarkable class of ring-shaped protein motors has been uncovered by researchers with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) using a state-of-the-art protein crystallography beamline at the Advanced Light Source (ALS).

25 Nov 2009

Studies examine interaction of ribosome with molecular partners

Two new studies reveal in unprecedented detail how the ribosome interacts with other molecules to assemble new proteins and guide them toward their destination in biological cells. The studies used molecular dynamics flexible fitting (MDFF) to examine the interaction of the ribosome with two prominent molecular partners.

24 Nov 2009

Mutated IDH1 gene linked to the progression of gliomas

23 Nov 2009

Mutated IDH1 gene has novel enzyme activity consistent with cancer-causing gene: Study

Agios Pharmaceuticals today announced that its scientists have established, for the first time, that the mutated IDH1 gene has a novel enzyme activity consistent with a cancer-causing gene, or oncogene. This breakthrough discovery shows that the mutated form of IDH1 produces a metabolite, 2-hydroxyglutarate (2HG), which may contribute to the formation and malignant progression of gliomas, the most common type of brain cancers.

23 Nov 2009

NIH grant for Lpath to advance clinical development of its antibody therapeutics

The National Cancer Institute's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program has awarded Lpath (OTCBB: LPTN), the category leader in lipidomics-based therapeutics, two Phase 1 grants totaling $0.3 million. This follows a series of other SBIR grants awarded to Lpath totaling $6.9 million, including a $3.0 million Phase 2 bridge grant from the NCI awarded this past June.

21 Oct 2009

Rice University scientists win NIH stimulus funds to study influenza A

Rice University scientists have won a $1.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to scrutinize the influenza A virus for clues that could lead to more effective antiviral drugs. Strains of influenza A include this year's pandemic H1N1 variety, some seasonal varieties and the much-feared H5N1 bird flu.

21 Oct 2009

NIH awards a $2.2M grant to biochemist for a high-resolution electron microscope

Waltham, MA-Researchers' ability to rapidly detect the macromolecular protein clumps implicated in Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases will soon get a sizable boost in the lab of biochemist and Howard Hughes Medical Investigator Nikolaus Grigorieff. The National Institutes of Health has just awarded Grigorieff a $2.2 million grant for a second high-resolution electron microscope (EM) in his lab.

8 Oct 2009

Scientists uncover the role of first-responder molecule involved in repairing DNA strand breaks

Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the Scripps Research Institute have uncovered the role played by the least-understood part of a first-responder molecule that rushes in to bind and repair breaks in DNA strands, a process that helps people avoid cancer.

5 Oct 2009

Biochemists are developing a new system to better understand antibiotic resistance

Rice University biochemists are developing a system of "evolutionary forecasting" to better understand the mechanisms of antibiotic resistance.

22 Sep 2009

Improved-resolution views of a zinc transporter protein deciphered

New, improved-resolution views of a zinc transporter protein deciphered at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory provide not just a structure but also a suggested mechanism for how cells sense and regulate zinc, an element that is essential for life, but which must be kept at a steady state to avoid problems like seizures, diabetes, and possibly Alzheimer's disease.

14 Sep 2009