structural-biology

University of Cincinnati structural biologists are the first in the world to visualize a key cell protein as part of newly published research from the College of Medicine.

The project, known as VIBES -- Vibration-Induced Bone Exercise Stimulation -- will examine whether low-intensity vibration can help counteract the aging-like bone loss associated with microgravity.

Subtyping a complex dementia A high-resolution view of frontotemporal dementia and TDP-43 accumulation In nineteenth-century biology, few debates ran hotter than the one between “lumpers” and “splitters”. Lumpers preferred to group organisms into broad categories while splitters preferred to carve out ever more precise distinctions. As a consequence, botanists couldn't even agree on how many spec…

Northwestern Medicine scientists have developed a new experimental method to analyze conformational fluctuations in protein domains on a uniquely large scale, which may improve data-driven modeling, biology and protein engineering, as detailed in a recent study published in Nature. The post New Experimental Method Reveals Protein Energy Landscapes on Larger Scale appeared first on News Center .

The resolution revolution in cryo-electron microscopy had reached broad recognition by 2015, when Nature Methods hailed it the method of the year and declared an end to “blob-ology,” a term structural biologist Helen Saibil recalls crystallographers once used to dismiss EM’s then low-resolution imaging. In the decade since, pharma companies have moved from cautious exploration… The post Thermo Fi…

In this work, we investigate the molecular interaction between acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and the Alzheimer’s medication donepezil using a graph-theoretical approach. We have presented the molecular graphs of AChE, donepezil, and their docked complex and calculated a set of degree-based topological indices, along with their respective Shannon entropy values. The entropy values measure the struct…

During Penn State Schuylkill’s April Faculty Research Series event, Angie Hoptak-Solga, assistant teaching professor of biology, presented her research on the molecular mechanisms of bone growth and regeneration.

Nature Communications, Published online: 20 May 2026; doi:10.1038/s41467-026-73479-1 PDS5B, a cohesin regulatory protein, is shown to bind DNA and enhance the RAD51 recombinase in the promotion of DNA strand exchange and protection of DNA from MRE11 RAD50-NBS1. Here the authors use biochemical and cellular analyses to reveal that DNA binding by PDS5B is essential for DNA damage repair and the pre…

Perineuronal nets (PNNs) in the primary visual cortex (V1) are specialized extracellular matrix structures that form predominantly on parvalbumin+ GABAergic neurons, marking the closure of visual critical period plasticity. More recently, PNNs are used to characterize deficits in critical period plasticity in mouse models for neurodevelopmental disorders such as Rett syndrome, Fragile X syndrome,…

Nature Cell Biology, Published online: 20 May 2026; doi:10.1038/s41556-026-01964-2 Downes et al. use in situ cryo-electron tomography and super-resolution fluorescence microscopy to define ER exit site architecture in unperturbed human cells. They visualize ribosome-exclusion zones enriched with COPII- and COPI-coated vesicles.

Nature Communications, Published online: 19 May 2026; doi:10.1038/s41467-026-73156-3 CRISPR-Cas systems are prokaryotic immune defenses commonly targeted by phage-encoded anti-CRISPR (Acr) proteins. Here, authors report cryo-EM structures of Cas2/3 and its complex with AcrIF19 from Pectobacterium atrosepticum, and uncover its dual inhibitory mechanism against Cas2/3 function.

The research article “Transcriptional Profiling at Single-cell Resolution Reveals Diversity and Regulatory Networks of Primary and Secondary Senescent Cells” by Jang, Shim, et al. models primary sene…

Nature Communications, Published online: 16 May 2026; doi:10.1038/s41467-026-73329-0 The crystal structure of xyloglucan xylosyltransferases XXT2 and XXT5 reveals an obligate heterodimer, in which XXT2’s flexible stem binds the catalytic domain of XXT5. Heterodimer assembly is also mediated through stem-stem interactions in vivo.

Nature Communications, Published online: 16 May 2026; doi:10.1038/s41467-026-72366-z The contrasting roles of epithelial tissues in providing flexibility while maintaining integrity are not yet well understood. Here, the authors show that this need can be fulfilled by keratin intermediate filaments cross talking to other cytoskeletal machinery across the developing epithelium.

Nature Communications, Published online: 16 May 2026; doi:10.1038/s41467-026-73239-1 Restart of failed DNA replication processes is essential but poorly understood. Here, the authors present cryoEM structures of two preprimosome complexes, revealing how the PriA/PriB/DnaT complex assembles and matures. The findings suggest a possible DnaA-like mechanism for replisome recruitment.