Crystallography News and Research

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E. coli persists against antibiotics through HipA-induced dormancy

Bacteria hunker down and survive antibiotic attack when a protein flips a chemical switch that throws them into a dormant state until treatment abates, researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center report in the Jan.16 edition of Science.

19 Jan 2009

Researchers solve structure of key Ebola protein

Research led by Iowa State University scientists has them a step closer to finding a way to counter the Ebola virus.

12 Jan 2009

Researchers identify clockwork that drives a powerful virus nanomotor

Peering at structures only atoms across, researchers have identified the clockwork that drives a powerful virus nanomotor.

30 Dec 2008

Researchers study virus with unusual properties

A team of researchers from Penn State University and the University of Chicago has uncovered clues that may explain how and why a particular virus, called N4, injects an unusual substance -- an RNA polymerase protein -- into an E. coli bacterial cell.

8 Dec 2008

Biologists spy close-up view of poliovirus linked to host cell receptor

Researchers from Purdue and Stony Brook universities have determined the precise atomic-scale structure of the poliovirus attached to key receptor molecules in human host cells and also have taken a vital snapshot of processes leading to infection.

8 Dec 2008

Scientists gain new insights into regulation of calpains

Scientists at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have gained new insights into regulation of one of the body's enzyme workhorses called calpains.

19 Nov 2008

H5N1 protein hides in tiny tubules

A protein found in the virulent avian influenza virus strain called H5N1 forms tiny tubules in which it "hides" the pieces of double-stranded RNA formed during viral infection, which otherwise would prompt an antiviral immune response from infected cells, said Baylor College of Medicine researchers in an online report in the journal Nature.

6 Nov 2008

Molecule stops DNA replication in its tracks

When a dividing cell duplicates its genetic material, a molecular machine called a sliding clamp travels along the DNA double helix, tethering the proteins that perform the replication.

19 Oct 2008

Study specifies chemical pathway for ions through the cell membrane

Life ultimately depends on the traffic of tiny charged particles through porous proteins studding the membrane surrounding every cell. In research published in Nature, scientists at The Rockefeller University have for the first time mapped a stepping-stone pathway of amino acids that these charged particles, or ions, follow across cell membranes.

13 Oct 2008

Discovery offers new understanding of diabetes drug target

Scientists at the University of Leicester have published findings about a new advance in the study of major diabetes drug target.

25 Sep 2008

Research provides new insights into how cells accessorize their proteins

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital investigators have gained new insight into how the cell's vast array of proteins would instantly be reduced to a confusion of lethally malfunctioning molecules without a system for proteins to "accessorize" in order to regulate their function.

21 Sep 2008

Galapagos acquires structure-based drug discovery from Sareum

Galapagos NV and Sareum Holdings plc has announced today that Galapagos has acquired Sareum's assets in drug discovery services, for a total cash consideration of EUR 695,000 (£553,000). These assets will position Galapagos' service division BioFocus DPI strongly in the growing field of structure-based drug discovery.

26 Aug 2008

Breakthrough discovery may lead to new drugs to fight bird flu, other epidemics

Researchers at Rutgers University and The University of Texas at Austin have reported a discovery that could help scientists develop drugs to fight the much-feared bird flu and other virulent strains of influenza.

25 Aug 2008

How anti-depressants and cocaine interact with brain

In a first, scientists from Weill Cornell Medical College and Columbia University Medical Center have described the specifics of how brain cells process antidepressant drugs, cocaine and amphetamines. These novel findings could prove useful in the development of more targeted medication therapies for a host of psychiatric diseases, most notably in the area of addiction.

28 Jul 2008

Cure for bird flu a step closer

Scientists and researchers have taken a big step closer to a cure for the most common strain of avian influenza, or "bird flu," the potential pandemic that has claimed more than 200 lives and infected nearly 400 people in 14 countries since it was identified in 2003.

15 Jul 2008

Eli Lilly to buy SGX Pharmaceuticals

Eli Lilly and Company and SGX Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that the companies have signed a definitive merger agreement providing for the acquisition of SGX in an all-cash transaction. SGX, based in San Diego, California, is a biotechnology company focused on drug discovery and development in the area of oncology.

8 Jul 2008

Researchers solve structure of proteins known as sodium glucose co-transporters

Researchers at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA have solved the structure of a class of proteins known as sodium glucose co-transporters (SGLTs), which pump glucose into cells.

4 Jul 2008

Discovery of new drug candidates to combat bird flu

As the specter of a worldwide outbreak of avian or "bird flu" lingers, health officials recognize that new drugs are desperately needed since some strains of the virus already have developed resistance to the current roster of anti-flu remedies.

2 Jul 2008

Researchers map iron transport protein - may help people suffering from blood iron disorders

Montana State University scientists in the Department of Chemistry and Bio-chemistry published new research this week that could one day affect the lives of millions around the world who suffer from blood iron disorders.

21 May 2008

Bird flu pandemic would require multi-drug approach

Scientists have uncovered a change in the H5N1 bird flu virus which makes it resistant to the anti-viral drug Tamiflu. The mutation in the N1 component was found in human cases of the disease and suggests that a single drug approach is likely to be ineffective in case of a bird flu pandemic in humans. The findings by a team at the Medical Research Council's National Institute for Medical Research are published in Nature.

15 May 2008