Many drugs—whether legal or illegal—act on one of the most abundant and important neurotransmitter receptors in the brain: type A GABA receptor (GABAA receptor). Particularly well-known are benzodiazepines, which are used for anesthesia during surgery and for the treatment of epilepsy, anxiety, and insomnia. The resolution of the three-dimensional structure of this receptor may one day lead to the development of better ways to treat these diseases. The GABAA…
cryoET
Revealed Structures of the Fully Assembled Spliceosome before Activation
Professor Shi Yigong of the School of Life Sciences of Tsinghua University published the major research results on the assembly mechanism and structure of the splice body in the “Science” magazine. The paper entitled “Structures of the Fully Assembled Saccharomyces cerevisiae Spliceosome Before Activation” reports two completely assembled key conformations of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae spliceosome in the preactivated phase – Precursor pre-catalytic spliceosome (defined as “pre-B complex”) and pre-catalytic spliceosome…
Structure of INO80–nucleosome Complex Found
The genomic DNA of higher organisms is compactly wrapped in the cell nucleus. DNA is tightly wound around a large number of histones called nucleosomes. For example, human cells contain about two meters of DNA in this way. However, genes must constantly undergo messenger RNA (mRNA) to guide protein synthesis. In addition, the entire DNA must be replicated before cell division, and DNA damage needs to be repaired. Therefore, cells…
Nature: Molecular Nucleation Mechanisms of Protein Crystals Revealed
In a new study, researchers from the Flanders Institute for Biotechnology, the Free University of Brussels (VUB), the Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands, the University of Savoy in France and the Biscay Science and Technology Park in Spain, found for the first time the molecular details of nucleation of protein crystals, which is of great medical and scientific significance. Dr. Mike Sleutel (VIB/VUB), co-author of the paper,…
Three-Dimensional Structures of the Herpesvirus HSV-1/HSV-2 Capsid Revealed
Herpesvirus is one of the most complex viruses both genetically and structurally. It spreads efficiently to host populations and leads to a range of human diseases, including congenital defects and cancers. The herpesvirus assembly pathway produces three different types of capsids: A-, B-, and C-capsids. All three capsid types have a mature, angled shell and a similar assembly mechanism. However, little is known about the structure and assembly mechanism…