Scientists decode black widow spider venom

Cryo-EM and MD simulations unveil the mechanism of the potent neurotoxin α-latrotoxin in forming calcium-permeable membrane pores

10-Oct-2024 - The black widow spider is one of the most feared spider species. Its venom is a cocktail of seven different toxins that attack the nervous system. These so-called latrotoxins specifically paralyse insects and crustaceans, but one of them, the α-latrotoxin, targets vertebrates and is also ...

A new drug target for psychiatric disorders

11-Sep-2024 - Misha Kudryashev’s lab at the Max Delbrück Center has identified a molecular intermediate of a serotonin receptor that is involved in diseases such as depression and schizophrenia. The study points to a potentially new target for therapeutics. A new study published in “The EMBO Journal” points ...

Intricate processes in photosynthesis decoded using advanced electron microscopy technique

This enables breakthroughs in multiple areas of biological and chemical research

25-Jun-2024 - Using cryo-electron microscopy a team of scientists from Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (HU), the Swedish universities of Umeå and Uppsala and the University of Potsdam has succeeded in visualising atomic structures at an unprecedented resolution at the nanometre level underlying the process of ...

Cancer Research: DNA Repair Mechanism Further Elucidated

“The findings from our work provide the basis for new approaches to treating various types of cancer”

30-May-2024 - Researchers at the University of Würzburg, led by Caroline Kisker in cooperation with Claudia Höbartner, discovered how the protein XPD detects a severe DNA damage and controls its repair. The XPD protein is a central component of our body's own 'DNA repair team', known as nucleotide excision ...

Discovery of the first fractal molecule in nature

‘We stumbled on this structure completely by accident and almost couldn’t believe what we saw when we first took images of it using an electron microscope’

12-Apr-2024 - Snowflakes, fern leaves, romanesco cauliflower heads: many structures in nature have a certain regularity. Their individual parts resemble the shape of the whole structure. Such shapes, which repeat from the largest to the smallest, are called fractals. But regular fractals that match almost ...

Researchers “film” the activation of an important receptor

Study may lead to the development of improved medicines

15-Mar-2024 - An international team of researchers has succeeded in “filming” the activation of an important receptor. They froze the involved molecules at different points in time and photographed them under the electron microscope. They were then able to place these still images in sequence. This sequence ...

NovAliX and Max Planck join forces to advance Cryo-EM driven drug discovery

Collaboration will make vital process of translating scientific research and academic insights into real therapies more efficient and more effective

07-Mar-2024 - NovAliX, a specialized Contract Research Organization dedicated to enabling drug discovery, announces its long-term strategic partnership with the Max Planck Institute (MPI) for Multidisciplinary Sciences in Göttingen. Through this collaboration, NovAliX and the MPI aim to make the vital process ...

Identify, engage, assassinate: How seahorse-like toxins kill insects

Researchers reveal the first-ever detailed structure of the bacterial toxin Mcf1: Useful for engineering novel biopesticides

02-Feb-2024 - Insect-killing bacteria typically release toxins to slay their hosts. The bacterium Photorhabdus luminescens, for example, pumps insect larvae full of the lethal ‘Makes caterpillars floppy 1’ (Mcf1) toxin, leading them to first become droopy and then dead. However, it has so far been a mystery ...

The enzyme with the iron heart

Results could lead to new biocatalysts for sustainable biotechnology

11-Dec-2023 - Nitrogenases are the only enzymes capable of reducing atmospheric nitrogen to bioavailable nitrogen (ammonia), a process essential for all life on Earth. Using cryogenic electron microscopy, researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology in Marburg, Germany, have now solved ...

Fatty acid factory filmed at work

High-resolution images provide new insights into cellular fatty acid production: Potential for medicine and biotechnology

15-Nov-2023 - Fatty acids are essential in all living organisms: to store energy, form membranes, and multiply. They are produced by a complex cellular machinery – the fatty acid synthase (FAS). A team of the Max Planck Institute (MPI) for Multidisciplinary Sciences, led by Ashwin Chari and Holger Stark, have ...