Crystallography from the guts of a cockroach

2017-05-01

DHFR- a target for TB drugs?

2017-04-01

This month’s featured structure from our 2017 calendar is the enzyme dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) from the bacterium that causes tuberculosis (TB), Mycobacterium tuberculosis. DHFR is an essential enzyme for life as it re

Giardia kinesin- a model locomotive

2017-03-01

The March image in our 2017 calendar is that of the parasite Giardia, responsible for the water-borne disease giardiasis.

Zika virus- one year on

2017-02-01

First isolated in the Zika Forest of Uganda in 1947, the image in our 2017 calendar for February is that of Zika virus.

Ebola GP fusion loop

2017-01-01

This featured structure explores the molecule from PDBe’s 2017 calendar for January.

Christmas Lights

2016-12-12

“Marley's face”, wrote Charles Dickens in his novella A Christmas Carol, “... had a dismal light about it, like a bad lobster in a dark cellar.”

Audrey Stevens' Eponymous Protein

2016-07-21

On 21st July 1932, on a farm in Nebraska, Audrey Stevens was born. One of the proteins she isolated during her career would be named after her and in 2001, only nine years before her death, its three dimensional structure would be determined.

Slow Bee Paralysis Virus

2016-06-18

The work of bees in pollinating our crops is as vital now as it has been for centuries, but bees are having a hard time at the moment for a variety of reasons, including viral diseases. Recent structures of a bee virus show novel features that might contribute to its infectivity.

Structure of Zika Virus Revealed

2016-03-31

The Zika virus has been linked to microcephaly and other neurological damage in foetuses.

You've got the Christmas Factor

2015-12-22

There’s an enzyme in humans, called Christmas Factor. It isn’t responsible for filling us with festive cheer, but is one of the enzymes responsible for blood clotting.

Solanezumab. An anti-Alzheimer's antibody

2015-07-23

The most common type of dementia is Alzheimer's disease. Recent data from the pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly claims that the monoclonal antibody Solanezumab can slow the rate of the disease’s progression.

Turning a hormone into a weapon

2015-06-30

Structures of a venom peptide from distantly related arthropods have revealed the origin of such peptide toxins. The protein from a spider, Tegenaria agrestis, and that from a centipede, Scolopendra mutilans show very similar 3D folds despite having only around 22% sequence identity.