crystallography in Biological News

The structure of the Mre11 protein bound to DNA

... performed both high-resolution protein crystallography and small-angle x-ray scattering (SAXS), which ... of samples in crystals using macromolecular crystallography (MX). Scott Classen of Berkeley Lab's Physical ... very far from the sample," says Classen. "While crystallography can give you nice pictures of static molecules, ...

Properties of unusual virus revealed in research

... now a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Rochester, used X-ray crystallography to obtain a high-resolution three-dimensional image of the N4 phage's RNA-polymerase and DNA molecule. "By modifying the crystallography conditions, Michael obtained an extremely high-resolution picture of the ...

Researchers study virus with unusual properties

... now a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Rochester, used X-ray crystallography to obtain a high-resolution three-dimensional image of the N4 phage's RNA-polymerase and DNA molecule. "By modifying the crystallography conditions, Michael obtained an extremely high-resolution picture of the ...

New approach builds better proteins inside a computer

... and suggesting new ideas for drug design. Researchers often rely on x-ray crystallography to determine a proteins structure bombarding the molecule with x-rays and ... by using it to improve data on protein structures derived using both x-ray crystallography and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. NMR spectroscopy ...

Discovery of the cell's water gate may lead to new cancer drugs

... yeast aquaporin. The results will be published in the journal PLoS Biology . Highest resolution The structure has been determined using X-ray crystallography and is the highest resolution structure that has been determined for a membrane protein. The unique high resolution has enabled the scientists to ...

Powe Award supports research on how enzymes enable the pathogenicity of 2 human disease organisms

... he said. The structural work is being done in collaboration with Andrea Mattevi, professor of molecular biology, who co-ordinates the protein crystallography group at the University of Pavia. Sobrado's team includes graduate and undergraduate students. "It is an opportunity for undergraduates to learn ...

CSHL researchers explain process by which cells 'hide' potentially dangerous DNA segments

... these interactions contributed to the strength of binding. For these answers, Schalch and the CSHL team made use of Joshua-Tor's expertise in X-ray crystallography the science of determining the exact position of atoms and bonds within a molecule by creating a crystal, which is then probed with powerful x-rays. ...

Scripps scientists find structure of a protein that makes cancer cells resistant to chemotherapy

... Aller, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow in Chang's laboratory and first author of the new study. Once the scientists succeeded in performing the x-ray crystallography and solving the structure, they found that the mouse protein P-gp, which is 87 percent identical to its human counterpart, has the shape of an upside ...

Antibody key to treating variant CJD, scientists find

... prevent the development of the disease. To understand the 'connection' between the antibody and the protein, scientists at Liverpool used X-ray crystallography technology to build a three-dimensional picture of the binding between an antibody called ICSM18 designed to 'stick' effectively to prion proteins ...

Scientists unlock the secrets of C. difficile's protective shell

... scientists from Imperial College London, funded by the European Union Seventh Framework Programme and the Medical Research Council. They used X-ray crystallography techniques to produce the first ever high-resolution images of the structure of LMW-SLP, one of the two proteins that make up C. difficile 's ...

Dartmouth researchers find new protein function

... to the motor proteins that power diverse cellular activities, including intracellular transport, signaling, and cell division. They used X-ray crystallography to determine its structure, and then they used enzyme kinetics to find out how it performed. While this protein is found in fruit flies, the results ...

First Science from the Compact Light Source: A miniature synchrotron for your home lab

... the CLS featured by the Journal of Synchrotron Radiation on its January 2009 cover; first micro-tomographic images from the CLS; and first protein crystallography data set from the CLS. The Compact Light Source prototype effort was funded by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) Small ...

New technique is quantum leap forward in understanding proteins

... interactions. Assistant Professor Hendrik Szurmant, another leader of the project from Scripps Research, says the process is so difficult with x-ray crystallography that it only rarely works for transient interactions. Another available means for studying protein interactions is a statistical method known as ...

Atomic-resolution views suggest function of enzyme that regulates light-detecting signals in eye

... domain is quick in recognizing and responding to the messenger molecule to create an instantaneous flow of information to the brain. Using X-ray crystallography and nuclear magnetic resonance, the researchers discovered that the enzyme undergoes major structural changes upon binding of the cGMP molecule. ...

Newly described 'dragon' protein could be key to bird flu cure

... material. The Argonne study focused on H5N1's RNA polymerase protein, which contains three subunits: PA, PB1 and PB2. After performing X-ray crystallography on the protein crystals at Argonne's Structural Biology Center 19ID beamline at the Advanced Photon Source, the researchers saw a surprising ...

UC San Diego researchers identify potential new drug candidates to combat 'bird flu'

... it's just one picture." Over the past decade or so, scientists have come to realize that the sometimes colorful structures gleaned from standard crystallography studies are limited. Instead of a still-life painting, proteins act more like a moving picture, constantly twitching and jiggling, making the goal of ...

Leemor Joshua-Tor, PhD, CSHL biologist and WSBS dean, is named an HHMI Investigator

... structures involved in the gene-silencing mechanisms of RNA interference (RNAi). In 2004, she and a graduate student, Ji-Soon Song, used x-ray crystallography to identify an enigmatic protein called Slicer at the heart of the RNAi machinery. The appropriately named enzyme, a member of a family of proteins ...

Seeing Alzheimer's amyloids

... Its a question that has dogged structural biologists and biochemists for a long time but stubbornly refuses elucidation. Researchers using x-ray crystallography have so far been unable to obtain crystals from fibrils of full-length polypeptide chains. Structural models based on NMR data have also come up ...

The story of Max Perutz, a pioneering biologist with a remarkable passion for life

... COLD SPRING HARBOR, N.Y. Max Perutz, a pioneer in the field of protein crystallography and a Nobel laureate, was one of the first to study the molecular structures of proteins. His life story, wonderfully told by Georgina Ferry, was ...

Yale University's Strobel recognized for work on RNA

... uses insights from several disciplines, including biochemistry and molecular biology, and employs such technologies such organic synthesis and X-ray crystallography to study reactions catalyzed by RNA. Many scientists now use techniques that he developed to study RNA activity. Scott Strobel has made seminal ...

Researchers 'see' structure of open nicotinic acetylcholine ion channels

... extremely low temperatures are examined under an electron microscope, some researchers obtained images of the closed ion channel. Others used X-ray crystallography to image the closed-channel conformation. This technique involves crystallizing the protein, creating a lattice that reveals many details of its ...

Honeybee researcher to unravel properties governing lifespan with support from Norway

... about the structural and binding properties for the honeybee vitellogenin protein through examination of synthesized protein fragments, combined with crystallography and spectroscopy. Her intention is to unlock how the protein can have pleiotropic effects on honey bee social organization which also may open a ...

Scientists discover how TB 'develops invincibility' against only available treatment

... Biochemistry Department said: Isoniazid is a pro-drug that an enzyme in the deadly bacteria itself makes active. Using the technique of protein crystallography and the incredibly bright X-ray source of the European Synchrotron at Grenoble, my team and that of Professor Emma Raven of the Chemistry Department ...

Poxvirus potency uncovered in new atomic map

... BIRMINGHAM, Ala. Scientists at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) and Saint Louis University used X-ray crystallography to uncover new details about the infectious potency of poxviruses, furthering the understanding of how one protein in viral infections can subvert ...

Research explores role of hydrogen peroxide in cell health

... In 2003, scientists reported that a protein known as sulfiredoxin (Srx) was involved in the process. The goal of Lowthers team was to use X-ray crystallography to learn exactly what happens. This technology gives us a three-dimensional snapshot of how the proteins interact, said Lowther. We wanted to know ...

Purdue researchers obtain a snapshot clarifying how materials enter cells

... It is a snapshot of what happens halfway through the entry process and is a very clear picture of how things work." The research team used X-ray crystallography to obtain a picture of a special protein, called an ABC transporter protein, as it moved material through the cellular membrane. The work was ...

Scientists spy enzyme that makes us unique

... DNA strands a process at the heart of human individuality. The discovery of the T7 endonuclease 1 enzymes structure was made by using x-ray crystallography techniques. The enzyme is derived from a bacteriophage a naturally occurring virus-like agent that attacks bacteria but the molecular processes are ...

New technique reveals subtle force-induced changes in biomolecule's conformation

... and utilization of advanced single-molecule techniques to study the fundamentals of DNA-protein interactions. Past techniques, such as X-ray crystallography and nuclear magnetic resonance, have provided a vast amount of structural detail for biological molecules, but the data is largely limited to a ...

Scientists learn structure of enzyme in unusual virus

... said. In addition, the glucose on the capsid also may be involved in the initiation of the viral infection, he said. The researchers used X-ray crystallography to determine the structure of the glycosyltransferase enzyme and earlier had used cryoelectron microscopy to determine the three-dimensional ...

Scientists find clue to mechanisms of gene signaling and regulation

... is consistent with the structural information from the enzyme responsible for the methylation. The enzyme structure was solved by use of X-ray crystallography at the Advanced Photon Source of Argonne National Laboratory. "We believe that this repeating pattern of 8 to 10 base pairs between CGs provides a ...

Key heart and Alzheimer's disease protein imaged for first time in native state

... of Biological Chemistry. "This is the first successful use of x-ray crystallography to reveal the structure of a protein bound to lipids," explains senior ... a pivotal role in both cardiovascular and neurological disease. X-ray crystallography is a technique for determining the three-dimensional structure of a ...

Advanced genomics and proteomics improve the diagnosis and treatment of a deadly lung disease

... the University of California, Berkeley. Doudna's research team used x-ray crystallography to assemble a detailed three-dimensional picture of an enzyme known as ... But she said that the work was facilitated by access to the HHMI-supported crystallography beam lines at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's Advanced Light ...

Molecule does more than slice and dice RNA

... the University of California, Berkeley. Doudna's research team used x-ray crystallography to assemble a detailed three-dimensional picture of an enzyme known as ... But she said that the work was facilitated by access to the HHMI-supported crystallography beam lines at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's Advanced Light ...

MIT chemist discovers secret behind nature's medicines

... Thanks to MIT chemistry Associate Professor Catherine L. Drennan's recent crystallography sleuthing, the secret to the enzyme's enviable prowess has come to light ... who was first author of the study, crystallized SyrB2 and then used X-ray crystallography to discover the physical structure of the protein. The X-rays scatter off ...

Yale scientists identify structure for RNA quality control

... Professor Sandra L. Wolin in the department of Cell Biology used both crystallography and biochemistry to visualize how Ro interacts with these RNAs. "The ... Professor Sandra L. Wolin in the department of Cell Biology used both crystallography and biochemistry to visualize how Ro interacts with these RNAs. "The ...

Researchers make gains in understanding antibiotic resistance

... infections. In their experiments, Steitz and his colleagues used x-ray crystallography to do high-resolution structural analyses of the large ribosomal subunits ... synergistically to kill bacteria. Finally, the researchers used x-ray crystallography to explore at high resolution the structural basis of a particular ...

RNA enzyme structure offers a glimpse into the origins of life

... could be removed to create a "minimal construct." At UC Santa Cruz, he began trying to grow crystals of the ribozyme so that he could use x-ray crystallography to determine its structure. Crystallizing RNA molecules is extremely difficult, and Robertson tried dozens of different versions of the ribozyme ...

Chemical switch triggers critical cell activities

... with it. The team reasoned that if E2 could not bind to NEDD8, it would be stuck on the docking site with nothing to do and nowhere to go. An X-ray crystallography image could then capture that moment. ...

Nobel Laureate finds 'elegant' explanation for DNA transcribing enzyme's high fidelity

... encounters an impediment, such as damaged DNA. Kornberg’s group captured the first picture of the polymerase II transcribing complex by X-ray crystallography in 2001. Those structures revealed the complex with a nucleotide still in the enzyme’s addition site, just after it had been added to the RNA ...