Instruct-PT Annual Report 2022

Instruct-PT Annual Report Highlights and New Technologies

The Instruct-PT research site is formed by FC-ULisboa, Lisboa and ITQB-NOVA, Oeiras. Together, they provide expertise and advanced integrative training in native and structural mass spectrometry, macromolecular crystallography, NMR spectroscopy and biophysical characterisation. Instruct-PT hosts state of the art equipment in MRMS and NMR, providing pilot access to MRMS. Find out more about the Portugal research site here.

Technological Advances in 2022

Native MS and protein-ligand binding studies are highly relevant for structural biology. However, they suffer from low throughput and are not easily amenable to automation. We installed a chip based nanoESI infusion system coupled to a magnetic resonance mass spectrometer (Solarix XR MRMS) with the added capability of sample preparation (Fig.1). Thus, it is now possible to fully automate the whole process of sample dilution and protein ligand mixing with control of time and concentration. This added capability will be very useful for large-scale ligand or fragment binding screening studies at extreme mass resolution and coupled to diverse MSMS methods for a thorough structural characterisation.

Portugal Structural Biology Activities

11 March 2022: PCISBIO Meeting – Instruct Portugal (Teatro Thalia - Lisboa, https://instruct-eric.org/events/pcisbio-meeting---instruct-portugal/) – Organization: Margarida Archer (ITQB-NOVA), Maria Arménia Carrondo (ITQB-NOVA), Carlos Cordeiro (FC-ULisboa), Marta Sousa Silva (FC-ULisboa), Célia Romão (ITQB-NOVA), Pedro Matias (ITQB-NOVA).
11-14 July 2022: EFTMS 2022 – 14th European Fourier Transform Mass Spectrometry Workshop & 3rd EFTMS School (Lisboa, http://eftms2022.campus.ciencias.ulisboa.pt/) – Organization: Carlos Cordeiro (FC-ULisboa), Marta Sousa Silva (FC-ULisboa)

Training

Joint Instruct-iNEXT Course: Integrating Structural Biology Techniques, 25-30 September 2022, Lisboa and Oeiras, Portugal

The main objective of this course was to provide the fundamental concepts and integrative hands-on applications of Macromolecular Crystallography (MX), Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR), Magnetic Resonance Mass Spectrometry (MRMS) and single-particle analysis cryo-Electron Microscopy (EM) in structural biology. The major strengths and limitations associated with each technique were also highlighted and discussed along with their complementarity to achieve truly integrative structural biology approaches to tackle challenging scientific projects.
In addition, this course also sought to i) disseminate the large range of structural biology services and techniques available through Instruct-ERIC and iNEXT-Discovery platforms; ii) help in the search for the adequate information on the respective webpages and iii) train the participants in the preparation of successful applications to Instruct-ERIC and iNEXT-Discovery.
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