research advances

Synopses of important developments in the field of structural biology and structural genomics, including advances from the Protein Structure Initiative. The featured articles and technical highlights are specially written for the Structural Biology Knowledgebase, while the research highlights are taken from NPG publications.

June 2009

featured articles
- Tackling influenza
  Structural studies reveal a new target for anti-influenza drugs that should work whatever the influenza virus strain.
  Nature 458, 909-913 (2009)
- You look familiar: the Type VI secretion system
  New structures raise the perplexing question of which came first, the bacterial secretion system or the bacteriophage tail.
  Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 106, 4154-4159 (2009)
research highlights
- Protein production: no cells required
  DNA hydrogels improve the efficiency of cell-free protein production.
  Nat. Methods 6, 326 (2009)
- Structure watch
  Two of the best structures chosen by Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology.
  
  Nat. Rev. Mol. Cell Biol. 10, 305 (May 2009)
- Float on through to the other side
  The X-ray crystal structure of a glutamine-dependent NAD⁺ synthetase from M. tuberculosis.
  
  Nat. Chem. Biol. 5, 280 - 281 (2009)
technical highlights
- Tips for crystallizing membrane proteins
  A practical guide to cloning, expressing, purifying and crystallizing membrane proteins.
  Nat. Protoc. 4, 619-637 (2009)
- Solve your solubility problems
  Wheat germ cell-free extract might be the answer to protein production difficulties.
  FEBS J. 273, 4160-4169 (2006)