Scientific Highlights

Transposases are crucial enzymes in catalysing the process of transposition of mobile DNA elements called transposons across loci in genomes. This reorganisation of DNA caused by the displacement of DNA mobile elements across genomes is central to long...

The glucocorticoid receptor (GR) is a ubiquitously expressed nuclear hormone receptor. It is activated through endocrine signalling by cortisol, and is of fundamental importance for development, skeletal growth, and other bodily functions. The structure...

The Robotein® facility, which is part of Instruct-BE, offers biomolecular analysis and protein production under the umbrella of two academic laboratories in Belgium: the Centre for Protein Engineering (CIP) at the Université de Liège...

NK cells are part of the immune response – they are lymphocytes equipped with a wide range of activating and inhibitory surface receptors, allowing them to recognise and kill malignant or infected cells. NKR-P1 is a receptor on NK cells, specifically...

Conservation of Drosophila melanogaster Septin G-interfaces studied by University Sao Paulo Septins are filamentous GTP-binding proteins present in most eukaryotes. Their role was initially identified to be in the process of cytokinesis and septum formation...

The AlphaFold database, co-developed by DeepMind and EMBL-EBI, is home to hundreds of millions of predicted protein structures, determined using artificial intelligence. Advancing on the experimental work done for years by structural biologists, AlphaFold...

Two-and-a-half years have passed now and the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic is still ongoing, showing that we need to find long-lasting solutions to fight the virus and the constant appearance of new variants. Although vaccines have been developed that help control...

In cells, DNA is wound around complexes made of eight histone proteins, forming nucleosomes. These nucleosomes make up the standard configuration of DNA, chromatin. The assembly of nucleosomes requires the specific binding of 8 histones: an (H3-H4)2...

Actin is one of the most highly conserved proteins in eukaryotes, playing a pivotal role in cell migration, endocytosis, and muscle contraction. It is the coordinated polymerisation and disassembly of actin filaments that allow it to play such a fundamental...

The continuous rise in drug-resistant bacteria is a significant concern for global health, made even more critical as few new antibiotics have been added to the market in recent years. That is, until teixobactin was discovered as a potential new antibiotic,...

The group II chaperonin TRiC (TCP-1 Ring Complex) is essential for the folding and function of a wide variety of proteins including the cytoskeletal polypeptides, actin and tubulin. As previous studies have uncovered, TRiC is made up of 8 subunits, CCT1-CCT8...

Microtubules are core components of the cytoskeleton that are essential for cargo trafficking, cellular organisation, and force generation. They are composed of α- and β-tubulin heterodimers and are highly heterogeneous, allowing for functional...

The continuous generation of SARS-CoV2 variants in the infected population has resulted in several which have impacted significantly on the epidemiology of COVID-19, with some causing outbreaks which have gone on to dominate the SARS-CoV2 virosphere and...

As the COVID-19 pandemic remains, the conversation around variants continues with it. The emergence of new variants brings the risk that vaccines developed against earlier strains of SARS-CoV-2 might not be efficient against new strains. Understanding...

GABAA receptors are ligand-gated chloride channels in the vertebrate central nervous system, with a well-documented pharmacology: GABAA receptors are the targets of several human drugs, with anticonvulsant, anti-anxiety, analgesic, sedative and anaesthetic...

Septins are a family of filament proteins involved in many essential cellular processes including cytokinesis, exocytosis, membrane barrier formation and bacterial entrapment. Fundamental to the structure of septins is the coiled coil, a motif based...

Metal ions are present in proteins and enzymes, often in the context of their catalytic properties. However, metal ions are also fundamental to the folding and structure of proteins such as enzymes. Previously described metal-ion binding motifs include...

Several vaccines have been developed in recent months to combat the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, caused by SARS-CoV-2. Whilst these have been effective in neutralising the initial SARS-CoV-2 virus, many variants have appeared across the globe. This is as...

Since the sequence of SARS-CoV-2 was first reported in January 2020, vaccines have been seen as the most effective way to minimise the global risks of COVID-19. Whilst a number have been produced worldwide, several variant strains of the virus have emerged...

Antibodies are crucial to immune protection against SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the global COVID-19 pandemic. Understanding the way in which they interact with the virus, binding and neutralising, can pay significant dividends in the ongoing...

In the past year, researchers around the world have worked to develop therapies and vaccines against the SARS-CoV-2 virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the main targets for vaccine development is the trimeric spike (S) protein. S is a...

Single particle Cryo-EM has evolved extremely rapidly in the recent years (with great advances in the quality of the instrumentation and the methods used for data analysis) and has become the technique of choice to determine the structure of membrane...

Transcription and replication of alphaviruses such as chikungunya take place in a coordinated fashion in virus-induced membranous organelles called spherules within host cells. The formation of these viral niches facilitates viral RNA synthesis and protects...

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers around the world have sought to understand the infection mechanism of the SARS-CoV-2 virus as a step towards designing new therapies and vaccines. Recent work at the Rosalind Franklin Institute has...

  Serine hydroxymethyltransferase 2 (SHMT2) is a mitochondrial protein with a critical role in amino acid and nucleotide metabolism – both of which are essential for cell growth and proliferation. In recent years, it has also been postulated...

To ensure cell survival, growth and differentiation, gene expression must be continuously modulated. Not all gene products are useful at every stage of cell life and the bulk of the genome is silent, packaged as chromatin (DNA wrapped around histone proteins),...

Influenza (commonly known as the flu) is an acute, respiratory infection responsible for over 3 million cases of severe illness each year. Most clinical cases of flu are caused by Influenza A viruses, which are also responsible for widespread outbreaks...

During cell division, duplicated DNA needs to be evenly distributed between two daughter cells so that each receives a single, complete set of chromosomes. When chromosome segregation fails, the consequences can be catastrophic - causing genetic disorders,...

Double-stranded (ds)RNA viruses are a large and diverse group of viruses that infect a range of hosts, including animals, plants, fungi, and bacteria. Members of the dsRNA viruses include rotaviruses (a common cause of gastroenteritis), bluetongue virus...

A recently developed scientific technique is allowing researchers at Instruct Centre IT to investigate proteins in their natural state. Traditional structural studies could only take place in vitro, which may result in improper protein folding and a lack...

Just like other animals, bees can contract viruses from parasites such as mites. A virus of particular significance is the Deformed Wing Virus (DWV), which has been causing epidemics in Western honey bee populations. As the name suggests, DWV causes pupae...

Our ability to fight bacteria using antibiotics is limited by the rise of resistant strains. However, understanding the mechanisms of bacteria’s natural enemy, the bacteriophage, may lead to new treatments. “Bacteriophage phi812 … can...

Bacteriophages are viruses that infect and replicate within bacteria and archaea. Recent work at the Instruct-ES Centre (CNB-CSIC) in collaboration with the IRB-CSIC centre in Barcelona, has elucidated critical aspects of the T7 tail protein structure...

Viruses are nearly always the villain – causing death and disease, but if they are understood well enough, scientists can use them as a cancer treatment. Scientists working at Instruct Centre FR2 have created a detailed picture of how one particular...

Currently there is no treatment for the deadly Hantaan infection, but new information about the virus structure could allow researchers to design a specific antiviral drug to target the virus. In an important step towards new therapies, Benoît Arragain...

Mitochondria generate energy for the body by making ATP (adenine triphosphate) from ADP (adenine diphosphate). For this to happen, cells must shuttle ADP from the cell cytoplasm into the mitochondria across the mitochondrial membranes. Similarly, once...

The World Health Organization ranks bacterial infections among the leading causes of illness and death worldwide. As infectious diseases continue to evolve and spread at an unprecedented rate, structural biologists are working to decipher how bacteria...

Every second, the human body sends thousands of messages between cells in order to regulate the functions of the body. Fibroblast growth factors (FGFs) are messaging signals that are involved in a number of critical metabolic processes...