research advances
March 2009 news
PSI in the Spotlight
PSI-SGKB [doi:10.1038/nw_psisgkb.2009.7]
This column presents announcements and other notable news related to the Protein Structure Initiative.
PSI:Biology approved as the next phase of the PSI
In January 2009, the National Advisory General Medical Sciences Council approved the PSI's next 5-year plan of research, to be called PSI:Biology. As the name suggests, the new phase of the PSI project, beginning in 2010, will concentrate on applying the technologies developed in the PSI Pilot and Production phases to biological and biomedically relevant structures. Emphasis will be placed on collaborations with the wider biological community. Centers for high-throughput structure determination that are funded will allocate 70% of their efforts towards these “High-throughput Enabled Structural Biology Partnerships”. Through these partnerships, outside groups will collaborate with the PSI Network and jointly perform structural and functional characterization of biologically important targets. The Community-Nominated Targets initiative will continue. Centers that focus on methods of membrane protein production and membrane protein structure determination will also be established. In addition, there will be program announcements for individual researcher grants and small centers to solicit proposals for the development of methods in structural biology and homology modeling. Lastly, the Structural Genomics Knowledgebase and Materials Repository will remain part of the PSI:Biology Network to serve as primary dissemination resources for the PSI.
Read more in the official NIGMS news release.
For further information regarding PSI Requests for Applications (RFA), program announcements (PAR) and timelines: http://www.nigms.nih.gov/News/Reports/council_concept_clearance_2009.html.
Current funding announcements are also listed on the SGKB Gateway in “About PSI”:
http://kb.psi-structuralgenomics.org/about/psi.html
50 Years of Protein Structure Determination
To mark the 50th anniversary of the first protein structures, the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) has created an interactive history of major advances in high-resolution protein structure determination. This timeline leads you through the structural milestones from oxygen-carrying proteins, hemoglobin and myoglobin, to viruses and essential protein receptors. It is designed for students of all ages to enjoy.
Register for the 2009 NIGMS Workshop
It's not too late to register for the 2009 NIGMS Workshop: 'Enabling Technologies for Structural Biology'. This 2½ day workshop, to be held 4–6 March 2009 at the NIH Natcher Conference Center in Bethesda, MD, will focus on the technical challenges of protein structure determination and include the latest technological and methodological innovations.
The deadline for registering for this free workshop is 25 February 2009, and applications can be completed online at: http://www.blsmeetings.net/2009workshop_enablingtechnologies. For further information after this date, please contact Alicia Corbin [Email: aliciac@blseamon.com].
Coming to a conference near you
Want to learn more about the PSI-Nature Structural Genomics Knowledgebase? Representatives will be available at these upcoming events:
February 22–25 2009
Annual US Human Proteome Organization (HUPO) Conference, poster #61
San Diego, CA
February 28–March 4 2009
Annual Biophysical Society Meeting, Exhibit Booth 603
Boston, MA
March 4–6 2009
2009 NIGMS Workshop: Enabling Technologies for Structural Biology
Bethesda, MD
Attend our methods tutorial “How to Use the PSI SGKB for Research” on Thursday 5 March.
