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.

July 2009

featured articles
- Proofreading RNA
  The structure of RNA polymerase II caught in the 'backtracked' state reveals how it ensures faithful transcription.
  Science 324, 1203-1206 (2009)
- Ykul structure solves bacterial signaling puzzle
  The crystal structure of the phosphodiesterase YkuI reveals how it binds cyclic di-GMP and might explain its activation.
  J. Biol. Chem. 284, 13174-13184 (2009)
research highlights
- A new look at pore formation
  
  Each protomer of the dodecameric transmembrane pore formed by cytolysin A (ClyA) undergoes major conformational changes upon pore formation.
  Nature Struc. Mol. Biol 16, 615 (2009)
- Spiral binding
  
  The crystal structure of the clamp loader complex explains why clamp loaders can recognize both RNA and DNA primers.
  Nature Struc. Mol. Biol 16, 615 (2009)
technical highlights
- GFP to the rescue
  Modified 'superfolder' green fluorescent protein can quickly establish whether a protein is soluble.
  J. Struct. Funct. Genomics 10, 47-55 (2009)
- Protein modeling made easy
  Working on a protein with no known structure? Try the Phyre server for simple-to-interpret protein models.
  Nature Protoc. 4, 363-371 (2009)