James Holton, a faculty scientist in the Molecular Biophysics and Bioimaging (MBIB) Division and full adjunct professor of biochemistry and biophysics at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), is the 2020 recipient of the American Crystallographic Association’s David J. Rognlie Award.
Toward a Blueprint for Anti-influenza Drugs
An international team led by researchers at UCSF used protein crystallography at the Advanced Light Source (ALS) beamline 8.3.1 to obtain structures of several influenza antiviral drug molecules bound to their proton-channel targets in both open and closed conformations. These complexes provide the first high-resolution views of how the drugs interact with and disrupt the water-molecule networks lining the M2 transmembrane channel. The structures provide an atomic-level blueprint from which to design more effective anti-influenza drugs that can overcome growing drug resistance. ALS beamline 8.3.1 is operated by James Holton, MBIB beamline scientist and associate adjunct professor at UCSF.
Read more in the ALS Science Highlight.
NIH Awards $6.5 Million for Augmenting Structural Biology Research Experience
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded $6.5 million to Berkeley Lab to integrate existing synchrotron structural biology resources to better serve researchers. The grant will establish a center based at the Lab’s Advanced Light Source (ALS) called ALS-ENABLE that will guide users through the most appropriate routes for answering their specific biological questions.
Bay Area Biopharma Company Uses ALS to Tackle Sickle Cell Disease
The protein crystallography capabilities at the Advanced Light Source’s (ALS’s) Beamline 8.3.1 have been critical to Global Blood Therapeutics’ (GBT’s) ongoing effort to formulate a better treatment for sickle cell disease (SCD).
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