Crystallography News and Research

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Critical new details about structure of enterovirus 71

Researchers have discovered critical new details about the structure of a virus that causes potentially fatal brain swelling and paralysis in children, pointing toward designs for antiviral drugs to treat the disease.

3 Mar 2012

Scientists determine chemical features of DHPS enzyme's active site

More than 70 years after the first sulfa drugs helped to revolutionize medical care and save millions of lives, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists have determined at an atomic level the mechanism these medications use to kill bacteria. The discovery provides the basis for a new generation of antibiotics that would likely be harder for bacteria to resist and cause fewer side effects.

2 Mar 2012

Mayo researchers gain insights into function of histone chaperones

Mayo Clinic researchers have gained insights into the function of a member of a family of specialized proteins called histone chaperones. Using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and X-ray crystallography, they have determined the 3-D structure and interactions of the histone chaperone Rtt106 down to the atomic details.

1 Mar 2012

Biochemists determine first crystal structure of an immunoproteasome

Like a shredder, the immunoproteasome cuts down proteins into peptides that are subsequently presented on the cellular surface. The immune system can distinguish between self and nonself peptides and selectively kills cells that due to a viral infection present non-self peptides at their surface. In autoimmune diseases this mechanism is deregulated and the immune system also eliminates uninfected cells by mistake.

16 Feb 2012

Scientists reveal structure of cellular protein degradation machinery

Defective proteins that are not disposed of by the body can cause diseases such as Alzheimer's or Parkinson's. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute (MPI) of Biochemistry recently succeeded in revealing the structure of the cellular protein degradation machinery (26S proteasome) by combining different methods of structural biology.

24 Jan 2012

Researchers discover key interaction at heart of promising new treatment for Fabry disease

A research team led by biochemist Scott Garman at the University of Massachusetts Amherst has discovered a key interaction at the heart of a promising new treatment for a rare childhood metabolic disorder known as Fabry disease.

23 Dec 2011

M. pneumoniae CARDS toxin plays a critical role in asthma

Five years ago, microbiologists at The University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio discovered the toxin produced by a common respiratory bacterial pathogen, Mycoplasma pneumoniae. Joel Baseman, Ph.D., who led the discovery, said at the time that the toxin's presence in humans could be causing as many as 40 percent of all asthma cases.

15 Dec 2011

Study explains molecular basis for cherubism disease

The Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute's Drs. Frank Sicheri, Tony Pawson and Sebastian Guettler, in collaboration with Dr. Robert Rottapel at the Ontario Cancer Institute, have uncovered the detailed architecture of a crucial component of Tankyrase, a protein linked to the bone development disorder cherubism and involved in a myriad of cellular processes.

9 Dec 2011

H. pylori bacterium produces urease to neutralize gastric acid

A research team led by scientists at the Chinese University of Hong Kong is releasing study results this week showing how a bacterium, Helicobacter pylori, that causes more than half of peptic ulcers worldwide and that has been implicated in stomach cancer has managed for eons to turn the acidic environment of the human gut into one in which it can thrive.

8 Dec 2011

Supercomputer simulations give insight into proteins involved in drug detoxification

Supercomputer simulations at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory are giving scientists unprecedented access to a key class of proteins involved in drug detoxification.

7 Dec 2011

New procedure could be adapted for use with X-ray techniques in studying human health

For more than a century, the use of X-rays has been a prime diagnostic tool when it comes to human health. As it turns out, X-rays also are a crucial component for studying and understanding molecules, and a new approach -- just published by researchers at the University of Georgia -- may dramatically improve what researchers can learn using the technique.

23 Nov 2011

Biochemists identify structure of hydroxyurea that specifically inhibits proteasome

As the "recycling plant" of the cell, the proteasome regulates vitally important functions. When it is inhibited, the cell chokes on its own waste. Cancer cells, in particular, are very sensitive because they need the proteasome for their uncontrolled growth. Biochemists at the Technische Universitaet Muenchen (TUM) have now identified the lead structure of a new class of drugs that attacks the proteasome in an unusual way. New medication could be developed on the basis of this previously unknown binding mechanism.

22 Nov 2011

Decanoic acid can modulate glucose control

A Van Andel Research Institute (VARI) study published recently in the Journal of Biological Chemistry reveals that a natural fatty acid can serve as a regulator of blood sugar levels, which may have important applications in designing better and safer drugs for diabetes treatment.

22 Nov 2011

Scientists isolate and analyze antibody that neutralizes Sudan virus

Scientists from The Scripps Research Institute and the US Army's Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases have isolated and analyzed an antibody that neutralizes Sudan virus, a major species of ebolavirus and one of the most dangerous human pathogens.

20 Nov 2011

Berkeley Lab, Bruker partner to develop and distribute new structural biology methods

Bruker Corporation and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) today announced a collaboration to develop and distribute new structural biology methods and tools to integrate Small-Angle X-ray Scattering (SAXS) with Nuclear Magnetic Resonance.

11 Nov 2011

X-ray crystallography identifies structure of apoA-I molecule

Using a sophisticated technique of x-ray crystallography, researchers Xiaohu Mei, PhD, and David Atkinson, PhD, from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have for the first time obtained an "image" of the structure and the precise arrangement of the atoms in a truncated form of the apolipoprotein A-I (apoA-I) molecule.

5 Nov 2011

UCB, Emerald BioStructures extend structure-based drug discovery collaboration

Emerald BioStructures today announced a three-year extension of its ongoing collaboration with UCB. The strategic aspects of this renewed relationship will provide Emerald with research funding over the three-year period and the opportunity to receive milestones and royalties on future drug product revenues.

27 Oct 2011

Molecular switch activates anti-viral innate immune response

When a thief breaks into a bank vault, sensors are activated and the alarm is raised. Cells have their own early-warning system for intruders, and scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Grenoble, France, have discovered how a particular protein sounds that alarm when it detects invading viruses.

15 Oct 2011

Insight into how powerful anti-HIV antibody grabs hold of the virus

Researchers at The Scripps Research Institute have uncovered the surprising details of how a powerful anti-HIV antibody grabs hold of the virus. The findings, published in Science Express on October 13, 2011, highlight a major vulnerability of HIV and suggest a new target for vaccine development.

14 Oct 2011

UCSF protein researcher wins NIH's Early Independence Award

James Fraser, PhD, a protein researcher who studies structural biology at the California Institute for Quantitative Biosciences (QB3) at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), is one of 10 recipients of a prestigious award for young scientists given for the first time by the National Institutes of Health.

1 Oct 2011