Structural Biology News and Research

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First computational method based on evolutionary principles developed to predict protein dynamics

Researchers from the Structural Biology Computational Group of the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre, led by Alfonso Valencia, in collaboration with a group headed by Francesco Gervasio at the University College London (UK), have developed the first computational method based on evolutionary principles to predict protein dynamics, which explains the changes in the shape or dimensional structure that they experience in order to interact with other compounds or speed up chemical reactions.

26 Oct 2015

Drug engineered from bananas could fight off wide range of viruses

A banana a day may not keep the doctor away, but a substance originally found in bananas and carefully edited by scientists could someday fight off a wide range of viruses, new research suggests.

23 Oct 2015

NIMR core imaging facility chooses Prior Scientific’s linear motor stage

Prior Scientific has announced that the Core Imaging Facility at the UK's prestigious National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR) has chosen a Prior HLD117 linear motor stage to be the sample platform at the center of a new system based around an Olympus IX83 microscope.

From Prior Scientific Instruments Ltd. 21 Oct 2015

Researchers create high resolution images of telomerase that plays major role in cancer, aging

An enzyme called telomerase plays a significant role in aging and most cancers, but until recently many aspects of the enzyme's structure could not be clearly seen.

16 Oct 2015

Proposed thin-plate model sheds light on structural basis of chromosomal aberrations in cancer cells

During cell division, each metaphase chromosome contains a single enormously long DNA molecule that is associated with histone proteins and forms a long chromatin filament with many nucleosomes.

9 Oct 2015

Research highlights potential new treatment strategy for degenerative diseases

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists have discovered evidence of a mechanism at the heart of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and related degenerative diseases. The research appears in today's edition of the journal Cell and highlights a possible new treatment strategy for the devastating disorders.

25 Sep 2015

UC San Diego, TSRI form new consortium to map cells in space and time

Drawing on complementary strengths of two San Diego institutions, The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) and the University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego) have formed a new consortium with a big mission: to map cells in space and time.

18 Sep 2015

Worldwide Protein Data Bank symposium focuses on multi-scale structural biology

The symposium titled with "Integrative Structural Biology with Hybrid Methods" is held focusing on the multi-scale structural biology, which aims to analyze structures of protein molecules and their assemblies, cellular machines, organelle, and even living cells and organisms by the hybrid methods, integrating many different technologies, such as chemical cross-links, MS spectrometry, FRET, Super-resolution microscopy, X-ray diffraction, NMR, and Computer modeling, in addition to Cryo-electron microscopy that has been attracting much attention these days.

10 Sep 2015

Long lasting flu vaccine using antibodies advance from TSRI and Janssen

Scientists from The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) and the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson (Janssen) have found a way to induce antibodies to fight a wide range of influenza subtypes—work that could one day eliminate the need for repeated seasonal flu shots.

26 Aug 2015

TSRI, Janssen collaborate to find universal flu vaccine

Scientists from The Scripps Research Institute and the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson have found a way to induce antibodies to fight a wide range of influenza subtypes—work that could one day eliminate the need for repeated seasonal flu shots.

24 Aug 2015

New ASU-POSTECH collaboration aims to discover biological molecules for health care, renewable energy research

The Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University and Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Pohang, South Korea, have announced a partnership that will catalyze discoveries with a major impact on health care and clean energy applications.

24 Aug 2015

Determining the dynein-dynactin complex structure: an interview with Dr Gabriel C. Lander

This is a macromolecular assembly is made up of two components, dynein and dynactin, that works to move molecular cargo (organelles, RNA, vesicles, proteins, viruses) along microtubule highways within our cells.

16 Aug 2015

Newcastle University awarded £5M for drug development research

Cancer Research UK's Drug Discovery Committee has today (Friday) awarded Newcastle University's Northern Institute of Cancer Research £5M to bring more cancer drugs to clinical trials.

7 Aug 2015

Researchers uncover new mechanism that p53 protein uses to trigger cell death

Researchers have identified a new mechanism that the tumor suppressor protein p53 uses to trigger cell death via apoptosis and have shown how the process could be harnessed to kill cancer cells. St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists led the study, which appears today in the scientific journal Molecular Cell.

31 Jul 2015

Biomedical breakthrough reveals never-before-seen details of the body's cellular switchboard

A biomedical breakthrough, published today in the journal Nature, reveals never-before-seen details of the human body's cellular switchboard that regulates sensory and hormonal responses. The work is based on an X-ray laser experiment at the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory.

23 Jul 2015

ULB integrates Arrayjet’s microarray technology to enhance biomolecular analysis using infrared imaging

The Center for Structural Biology and Bioinformatics at the Free University of Brussels has developed an outstanding expertise in the analysis of biological molecules using infrared spectroscopy.

21 Jul 2015

Domainex’s new integrated bioassay service platform accelerates progression of drug discovery projects

Domainex Ltd, a private drug discovery service company, today announces that it is launching an integrated bioassay service platform, BioassayBuilder.

2 Jul 2015

Purdue University-led study could lead to better treatments for people infected with MERS virus

A Purdue University-led team of researchers studying the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, or MERS, have found molecules that shut down the activity of an essential enzyme in the virus and could lead the way to better treatments for those infected.

23 Jun 2015

Experimental vaccine candidate can stimulate immune system activity to prevent HIV infection

New research led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI), International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) and The Rockefeller University shows in mice that an experimental vaccine candidate designed at TSRI can stimulate the immune system activity necessary to stop HIV infection. The findings could provide key information for the development of an effective AIDS vaccine.

22 Jun 2015

New research sheds light on molecular architecture of receptors linked to many brain diseases

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have teamed up with several other institutions and pharmaceutical companies, including the University of Southern California (USC), San Diego's Receptos Inc. and Japanese company Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., to publish the first 3D structures of a receptor implicated in many diseases of the brain and in normal physiology throughout the body.