Crystallography News and Research

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Newly solved structure reveals how cells resist oxygen damage

The sun's rays give life, but also take it away. Singlet oxygen, a byproduct of the photosynthetic process by which certain cells convert sunlight into energy, is a highly toxic and reactive substance that tears cells apart.

16 Oct 2007

Brookhaven's D-peptides halt HIV entry into cells

Based in part on protein structures determined at the National Synchrotron Light Source (NSLS) at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory, scientists at the University of Utah have developed new peptides that appear to be significantly more effective at blocking HIV's entry into cells than other drugs in their class.

10 Oct 2007

New peptides inhibit HIV's entry into cells

9 Oct 2007

Unmasked enzyme may lead to new drugs for type II diabetes

Scientists at the Medical Research Council have made a discovery that could pave the way for better treatments of type II diabetes.

27 Sep 2007

Study reveals the regulatory mechanism of protein kinase A

Research conducted at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine has shed new light on the structure and function of one of the key proteins in all mammalian cells, protein kinase A (PKA), an enzyme which plays an essential role in memory formation, communication between nerve cells, and cardiac function.

21 Sep 2007

Scientists learn three-dimensional structure of enzyme in unusual virus

Biologists have determined the three-dimensional structure of an unusual viral enzyme that is required in the assembly of new viruses.

18 Sep 2007

Solid state NMR spectroscopy reveals the workings of 'Mother Nature's Blowtorch'

Using atom-level imaging techniques, University of Michigan researchers have revealed important structural details of an enzyme system known as "Mother Nature's blowtorch" for its role in helping the body efficiently break down many drugs and toxins.

17 Sep 2007

RecA family recombinases repair DNA damages

A biochemistry research team led by Dr. Andrew H.-J. Wang and Dr. Ting-Fang Wang at the Institute of Biological Chemistry, Academia Sinica(IBCAS), has discovered that the RecA family recombinases function as a new type of rotary motor proteins to repair DNA damages.

13 Sep 2007

Bacterial toxins and perforins have a common ancestor

Human immune proteins crucial for fighting cancer, viruses and bacterial infections belong to an ancient and lethal toxin family previously only found in bacteria, Australian researchers have found.

24 Aug 2007

New clue to mechanisms of gene signaling and regulation

Scientists have discovered a pattern in the DNA sequence of the mouse genome that may play a fundamental part in the way DNA molecules regulate gene expression.

24 Aug 2007

Researchers watch bacteria and antibiotics at the atomic level

A new understanding of an enzyme important for the transfer of genetic information in bacteria may help scientists improve current antibiotics and also create antibiotics that are less vulnerable to resistance.

27 Jul 2007

Nicotine rush hinges on sugar in neurons

As with other questions involving good sensations, the answer appears to be sugar.

23 Jul 2007

New approach to predict protein function

In a paper published online this month in the journal Nature Chemical Biology, researchers report that they have developed a way to determine the function of some of the hundreds of thousands of proteins for which amino acid sequence data are available, but whose structure and function remain unknown.

12 Jul 2007

New weapon in the battle against antibiotic-resistant bacteria

Putting bacteria on birth control could stop the spread of drug-resistant microbes, and researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have found a way to do just that.

10 Jul 2007

Researchers discover why some mosquitoes are resistant to malaria

A team led by UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers has discovered why some mosquitoes are resistant to malaria, a finding that may one day help fight a disease that afflicts and kills millions of people.

9 Jul 2007

Orlistat weight loss drug points to new cancer treatments

Based on their surprising discovery that an obesity drug can kill cancer cells, scientists at Wake Forest University School of Medicine have made a new finding about the drug's effects and are working to design more potent cancer treatments.

9 Jul 2007

Scientists create sheets of protein-gold arrays

In groundbreaking research, scientists have demonstrated the ability to strategically attach gold nanoparticles -- particles on the order of billionths of a meter -- to proteins so as to form sheets of protein-gold arrays.

28 Jun 2007

New cancer drug target

Research led by scientists at Weill Cornell Medical College has uncovered two new potential points of vulnerability on a key cancer-promoting protein, called XIAP.

23 Jun 2007

Anacor finds novel mechanism for lead anti-fungal drug, AN2690

Anacor Pharmaceuticals, a privately held pharmaceutical company, has announced that the journal Science will publish results of research that details how AN2690, the company's lead clinical candidate, kills fungal cells by interfering with synthesis of a specific protein required for fungal growth.

23 Jun 2007

Model of proline dehydrogenase created

Researchers at the University of Missouri-Columbia recently created a model of proline dehydrogenase, an important cancer-preventing enzyme in the human body, and analyzed how it works.

17 May 2007