Index of Articles

A2A Adenosine Receptor
2011 May
With proteins, small motions often have large effects.
Alg13 Subunit of N-Acetylglucosamine Transferase
2010 February
Eukaryotic cells have an elaborate mechanism for adding sugar chains to their proteins.
AlkB Homologs
2012 August
Evolution is a great tinkerer, and when cells discover a useful plan for a protein, it is often pressed to service in other capacities.
Alpha-Catenin Connections
2013 March
Structures of alpha-catenin and vinculin are revealing a highly dynamic interaction in adherens junctions.
Alpha/Beta Barrels
2010 October
How are these six proteins similar? They all perform very different functions: they represent five different classes of enzymes, and one is a non-enzymatic protein.
Anthrax Stealth Siderophores
2012 June
Iron is an essential mineral, used by many enzymes for its ability to trap small molecules like oxygen and to act as a conduit of electron transfer.
Antibiotics and Ribosome Function
2010 March
Antibiotics are often discovered in nature, where they are lethal weapons in the fight between different organisms.
Aquaglyceroporin
2009 March
The protozoan parasites that cause malaria multiply rapidly in the blood of infected individuals.
Archaeal Lipids
2012 December
PSI:Biology Researchers have revealed how archaea build their unusually temperature-tolerant lipids.
Aspartate Dehydrogenase
2008 August
Aspartate dehydrogenase is a new enzyme discovered by Northeast Structural Genomics Consortium.
Bacteria and Bile Salts
2013 September
PSI researchers have solved the first structure of a bacterial enzyme involved in the removal of bile acid hydroxyl groups in the human gut.
Bacterial Armor
2011 October
Bacteria are found in nearly every corner of the world, evolving unique mechanisms to survive in their different environments.
Bacterial CDI Toxins
2014 June
PSI researchers have solved the structures of several potent bacterial toxins, along with their antidotes.
Bacterial Hemophores
2013 January
PSI biology researchers are exploring the proteins that pathogenic bacteria use to gather scarce heme groups, and the iron ions they carry.
Bacterial Leucine Transporter, LeuT
2009 May
Many antidepressant drugs, as well as drugs of abuse such as cocaine, block the traffic of neurotransmitters across the cell membrane of nerve axons and glial cells.
Bacterial Phosphotransferase System
2012 October
Bacteria are thrifty cells.
Bacteriophage Lambda cII Protein
2008 October
Living cells are constantly making decisions: when to eat, when to move, even when to die.
CAAX Endoproteases
2013 August
Structures of two Ste24p-family proteases locate the active site inside a hollow, membrane-spanning chamber.
Cas4 Nuclease and Bacterial Immunity
2014 February
A distinctive toroidal structure, a metal ion and an iron-sulfur cluster allow Cas4 to unwind and process phage DNA in the process of CRISPR-associated immunity.
CBS Domain Protein TA0289
2009 February
Research in bioinformatics has shown that proteins are often modular, and that these modules are often mixed and matched to form new proteins.
CCR5 and HIV Infection
2015 January
A new PSI structure shows how the anti-HIV drug maraviroc locks the coreceptor CCR5 in an inactive state.
Chronophin
2008 May
The cell is a busy place with thousands of things happening at once.
Coenzyme F420 Synthesis
2008 April
Unusual coenzymes are often needed to perform particularly difficult enzymatic tasks.
Community-Nominated Targets
2015 July
The Community-Nominated Targets program has allowed PSI to collaborate with researchers on hundreds of systems of high biological significance.
CXCR4
2011 January
The GPCR (G protein-coupled receptor) community is suffering from an embarrassment of riches.
Cytochrome Oxidase
2012 November
Cytochrome oxidase is the foundation of aerobic respiration.
Deciphering Microbial DUFs
2014 November
PSI researchers are characterizing domains of unknown function in microbes, and discovering new protein folds in the process.
Designer Proteins
2013 February
PSI biology researchers have discovered several rules for protein folding and used them to design five entirely new proteins.
Discovering Deaminases
2014 January
The Enzyme Function Initiative uses a structure-guided approach to predict functions of enzymes based on their amino acid sequence. This approach has revealed a variety of novel deaminases.
Disordered Proteins
2012 February
Looking through the thousands of structures in the PDB, we get the impression that proteins must have a stable, folded structure to be functional.
DNAJA1 and Pancreatic Cancer
2014 July
PSI researchers have determined the structure of a DnaJ cochaperone and studied its role in pancreatic cancer.
Dynamic DnaK
2015 March
PSI researchers have used an engineered version of DnaK to reveal the open state of an Hsp70 protein chaperone.
Evolution of Photoconversion
2015 June
PSI researchers have discovered that protein flexibility is a key element in the evolutionary pathway for developing photoconvertable GFP-like proteins.
Exploring the Secretome of Gut Bacteria
2011 September
We often think of bacteria as our enemies, as something we need to fight with antiseptics and antibiotics.
G Protein-Coupled Receptors
2012 May
In the past five years, the field of GPCR structure has exploded.
G Proteins and Cancer
2013 November
G-proteins play an essential role in cell signaling, a role that is corrupted in many types of cancer cells.
Glucagon Receptor
2014 April
PSI researchers have solved the structures of a GPCR that binds to peptide hormones, revealing new modes of GPCR recognition.
Glycerate Kinase
2008 March
The structure of the TM1585 gene product of the bacterium Thermotoga maritima, recently solved by the Joint Center for Structural Genomics, gives the first look at a novel enzyme in sugar metabolism, and provides a new protein fold as a bonus.
Guanine Nucleotide Exchange Factor Vav1 and Rho GTPase Rac1
2009 October
Our cells are filled with a cytoskeleton that provides an infrastructure for support, transport, and locomotion.
Hda and DNA Replication
2009 June
Cell division requires careful bookkeeping.
Hemolysin BL
2010 January
Bacteria are master weapon makers.
Imidazolonepropionase (HutI)
2008 December
Histidine is an essential amino acid with several interesting chemical properties.
Iron-Sulfur Cluster Biosynthesis
2014 December
PSI researchers are exploring the complex biological machinery that builds iron-sulfur clusters.
Isoxanthopterin Deaminase
2010 November
How do you discover the function of a new protein? Structural genomics researchers are faced with this problem every day, and they have developed a toolbox full of methods to help solve it.
Lysostaphin
2009 July
Antibiotics are one of the major triumphs of twentieth century science, but unfortunately, the bacteria are fighting back.
Making Lipopolysaccharide
2012 January
Many bacteria surround themselves with a protective coat, to resist attack from antibiotics, predators, and the immune system.
Methylation of Arginine
2013 December
Protein methylation is widely used for regulation of proteins inside cells. A recent PSI structure reveals the interaction between an arginine methyltransferase and the machinery that regulates its action.
Mre11 Nuclease
2010 May
All living things on the Earth store their genetic information in long strands of DNA.
NDM-1 and Antibiotics
2013 May
With structural biology and computational analysis, PSI Biology researchers have revealed the catalytic pathway of an antibiotic-destroying enzyme.
New NTF2-like Domains
2014 May
PSI researchers are exploring the range of structures adopted by a versatile protein fold.
Nitrile Reductase QueF
2011 March
Nature uses exotic chemistry to build its diverse collection of molecules.
Nitrobindin
2010 December
Proteins perform most of the nanoscale tasks inside of cells, but occasionally, they need help from more exotic molecules.
P2Y Receptors and Blood Clotting
2014 September
PSI researchers have revealed a novel rearrangement in a purine-binding GPCR, opening new avenues for the design of blood clotting drugs.
PDZ Domains
2013 April
PDZ domains are specialists in protein recognition, but PSI Biology researchers are revealing their abilities to bind to membranes as well.
Peptidyl-carrier Proteins
2014 October
PSI researchers have determined the structure of a new class of peptidyl-carrier proteins, helping to understand how cells make exotic peptides without using ribosomes.
Phytochrome
2010 April
Most animals, including ourselves, use sophisticated eyes to see light.
Piecing Together the Nuclear Pore Complex
2015 February
PSI researchers have solved another piece in the puzzle for revealing an atomic-level model of the nuclear pore complex.
Pilus Assembly Protein TadZ
2012 April
Many bacteria are covered with long filaments, called pili or fimbriae, that help them interact and attach to their environment.
Power in Numbers
2014 August
PSI researchers have determined the structure of a transcriptional regulator involved in quorum sensing in an important pathogenic bacterium.
Proteinase K and Digalacturonic Acid
2010 September
X-ray crystallography is one of the most exact experimental techniques, but ironically, it is also one that relies on sheer luck.
Pseudouridine Synthase TruA
2009 November
Evolution is a great tinkerer.
Rb Tumor Suppressor and Cancer
2011 August
One of the overarching goals of structural genomics is to characterize the structure and function of entire systems of proteins.
RBBP9 (Retinoblastoma Binding Protein 9)
2010 June
Biological complexity is at its most complex when we look to signaling.
Revealing the Nuclear Pore Complex
2012 March
This is an exciting time for the study of the nuclear pore complex, the highway of transport between the cytoplasm and nucleus, and also a central player in nuclear organization and gene regulation.
Ribofuranosyl Binding Protein
2011 June
Molecular recognition is at the very heart of life.
Ribonuclease and Ribonuclease Inhibitor
2009 April
The complex between ribonuclease and ribonuclease inhibitor is one of the tightest known intermolecular interactions, but researchers at the CESG are trying to change that.
RNA Chaperone NMB1681
2011 July
The small protein NMB1681 has been proposed to act as an RNA chaperone, but unlike a chaperone at a high school dance, NMB1681 acts as a molecular matchmaker, trying to bring together the molecules it watches over, rather than keeping them apart.
RNase T
2008 July
Living cells are filled with RNases, but not highly destructive ones like our digestive RNase.
Ryanodine Receptor
2015 April
PSI researchers take a close look at a gated calcium channel that controls muscle contraction.
Salicylic Acid Binding Protein 2
2009 August
Centuries ago, both the ancient Greeks and native Americans discovered that willow bark and other plants can dull pain.
SARS Coronavirus Nonstructural Protein 1
2008 June
Researchers at the Joint Center for Structural Genomics have obtained the first look at nsp1 (nonstructural protein 1), a major factor in the pathogenicity of the coronavirus that causes SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome).
Scavenger Decapping Enzyme DcpS
2008 November
Messenger RNA molecules are temporary molecules.
Secretagogin
2009 December
Cells typically deplete themselves of calcium, expending considerable energy to pump calcium ions out of the cell or into special compartments inside the cell.
Serum Albumins and Allergies
2013 October
A new structure of bovine serum albumin reveals three calcium-binding sites and sheds light on the unusual allergenicity of the molecule.
Signaling with DivL
2015 May
DivL shares many structural features with other bacterial signaling proteins, but has been modified by evolution to reverse the typical directionality of signaling.
Solute Channels
2012 September
Cells maintain a steady traffic of small molecules across their membranes.
Stabilizing DNA Single Strands
2013 July
PSI researchers have determined the structure of a new single-stranded DNA-binding domain, revealing a surprising connection between the kingdoms of life.
Superbugs and Antibiotic Resistance
2011 December
Antibiotics were used as weapons to fight bacteria long before Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin.
T-Rex
2008 September
The repressor protein T-Rex has the difficult job of distinguishing the difference between NAD+ and NADH.
Targeting Enzyme Function with Structural Genomics
2012 July
Prediction of the function of a new enzyme based only on its sequence, or even on its structure, is still a major challenge, and will be a major prize for biomedical research when effective methods are developed.
The Perils of Protein Secretion
2011 November
Salmonella bacteria are tiny terrorists that infect cells and ultimately destroy them.
Toxin-antitoxin VapBC-5
2009 September
Living cells are full of surprises and mysteries.
TrkH Potassium Ion Transporter
2011 April
Cells are filled with a salty soup of metal ions.
tRNA Isopentenyltransferase MiaA
2010 August
Cells always seem to find the best way of doing things.
Tryptophanyl-tRNA Synthetase
2011 February
Biology is full of surprises, and they often tell us important things about ourselves.
Tuning Immune Response with Costimulation
2013 June
PSI researchers are studying molecules that stimulate and inhibit our immune response, ensuring that it is activated only when necessary.
Viroporins
2014 March
PSI researchers have determined the structures of several viral pore-forming proteins, revealing common functional features.
Zinc Transporter ZntB
2010 July
Zinc is an essential component of many cellular processes.
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