Biosciences Area

Gemini Beamline Banks First Protein Structure

A protein structure obtained at Beamline 2.0.1 (“Gemini”) at the Advanced Light Source (ALS) has recently been published in the literature and deposited into the Protein Data Bank—two significant firsts for this beamline. The structure helped provide new insights into the molecular mechanisms involved in triggering certain inflammatory diseases. This milestone, which utilized Gemini’s capacity to target crystals smaller than 20 microns, was almost a decade in the making. Simon Morton, now a semi-retired staff scientist at ALS, and Corie Ralston, facility director at the Molecular Foundry and a staff scientist in the Molecular Biophysics and Integrated Bioimaging Division (MBIB), helped bring the microfocus beamline to the Berkeley Center for Structural Biology (BCSB) in 2014. Beamline operations are now led by Marc Allaire, a biophysicist staff scientist in MBIB and head of the BCSB.

Read More in the Berkeley Lab News Center.

Anthony Rozales, Beamline Runner

For Anthony Rozales, his shift overseeing the protein crystallography beamlines begins before the sun rises. While some might find the early mornings grueling, for him it’s ideal. Most days, after his shift ends and he makes it home, Rozales usually turns right around and leaves again, this time on foot.

Structural Imaging at ALS Yields New Insights into DNA Repair Enzyme

PARP1 is an enzyme that senses DNA damage and sends a cellular signal to carry out repair. It has been found to be upregulated in several carcinomas and inhibiting its activity has been shown to repress tumor growth and metastasis. PARP1 has also emerged as a promising therapeutic target for Alzheimer and Parkinson diseases, where attenuating the enzyme’s hyperactivity can help cells survive. To better understand the regions of PARP1 that various inhibitors attack, an international team of researchers captured the first snapshot of the enzyme in the active state it adopts after detecting DNA damage.

Enzyme Structure Reveals Key Details in Strigolactone Signaling

A recent study published in Nature Plants used a combination of genetic mutation and X-ray crystallography, conducted at the Berkeley Center for Structural Biology, to reveal structural details of a key enzyme involved in plant signaling.

Enzyme Structure Reveals How a Powerful Anti-cancer Molecule Is Made

Researchers at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego used the Berkeley Center for Structural Biology’s 8.2.2 beamline at the Advanced Light Source to identify structural details of an enzyme that produces a versatile anti-cancer molecule. By virtue of the its unique, ringed structure the molecule crosses the blood-brain barrier and could be instrumental in fighting difficult-to-access brain cancers.

Was this page useful?

Send
like not like
Follow us: