27 May 2020

Single-particle cryo-EM at atomic resolution

A. Radu Aricescu & Sjors H.W. Scheres et al. show in the bioRxiv paper that using a new electron source, energy filter and camera, a 1.7 Å resolution cryo-EM reconstruction for a prototypical human membrane protein, the β3 GABAA receptor homo-pentamer, can be obtained.

25 May 2020

Breaking the next Cryo-EM resolution barrier – Atomic resolution determination of proteins!

In a new bioRxiv paper, Holger Stark et a. report a 1.25 Å resolution structure of apoferritin obtained by cryo-EM with a newly developed electron microscope providing unprecedented structural details. Their apoferritin structure has almost twice the 3D information content of the current world record reconstruction (at 1.54 Å resolution). For the first time in cryo-EM they can visualize individual atoms in a protein, see density for hydrogen atoms and single atom chemical modifications.

18 May 2020

PostEra Call: Help us Fight Coronavirus - Contribute your expertise to design inhibitors of the SARS-CoV-2 main protease

An international group of scientists from academia and industry is seeking opportunities to contribute to combatting COVID-19. They welcome contributions of many forms including scientific expertise, experimental capabilities, and indeed donations to make this possible.

18 May 2020

Highlights of Coronavirus Structural Studies

The CIISB website introduces a new section entitled „Highlights of Coronavirus Structural Studies“. This section presents the latest and most important results of structural studies of SARS-CoV-2 and its constituents. Its content will be updated regularly.

15 May 2020

Instruct-ERIC Call for R&D Pilot Project Awards is now Open

Instruct-ERIC invites applications for its sixth Research & Development (R&D) Pilot Project Awards. Recipients of the Instruct R&D Award receive up to €15,000 for a basic or applied research project lasting approximately one year. The expectation is that the preliminary data from pilot project will form the basis for recipients to apply for more substantial funding through conventional routes. Proposal submission is open until 31 August 2020.

13 May 2020

Successful Installation of World’s First 1.2 GHz NMR System Enables Novel Functional Structural Biology Research

On May 4, 2020, Bruker Corporation announced the successful installation and customer acceptance of the world’s first Avance™ NEO 1.2 GHz NMR system at the CERM of the University of Florence. This new 1.2 GHz NMR system will enable CERM to perform novel research in functional structural biology of proteins and protein complexes.

11 May 2020

Visualizing an unseen enemy; mobilizing structural biology to counter COVID-19

Edward N. Baker from School of Biological Sciences, University of Auckland, New Zealand, has published an editorial in a number of IUCr Journals [see also Baker, E. N. (2020). IUCrJ. 7, 366–367; Baker, E. N. (2020). Acta Cryst. D76, 311–312] to highlight the work of structural biologists in fighting COVID-19. At the end of his short recollection he emphasizes: “My purpose in writing this editorial, however, is to applaud the energy and skill of the researchers, and their public spirit in sharing their results. And I take a vicarious pride in the fact that the discipline to which I have given my professional life – crystallography – has such an important role at a time of international crisis.”

15 Apr 2020

On the SARS-Cov-2 Inhibitor Track

To develop specific anti-coronavirus therapeutics and prophylactics, the molecular mechanism that underlies viral infection must first be defined. The recent study published in Cell Research solved the X-ray crystal structure of six-helical bundle (6-HB) core of the HR1 and HR2 domains in the SARS-CoV-2 S protein S2 subunit, revealing that several mutated amino acid residues in the HR1 domain may be associated with enhanced interactions with the HR2 domain, as compared to SARS-CoV.