research advances
November 2009 news
Spotlight on Structural Genomics
PSI-SGKB [doi:10.1038/nw_psisgkb.2009.52]
This column presents news and announcements related to the structural genomics efforts.
PSI investigators elucidate T. maritima metabolic network
Through a clever combination of structural genomics, computational modeling and analysis, investigators from PSI JCMM and JCSG and collaborators have added a third dimension to the entire metabolic network of the model hyperthermophilic bacterium Thermotoga maritima.
“This paper provides an integrated, structural and biochemical model, which on one hand allows one to reproduce, in silico, all known growth properties of T. maritima, and on the other, provides a complete list of protein folds in the metabolic network,” say PSI center directors Adam Godzik and Ian Wilson. “Such integration of biochemistry and structural biology on the whole organism level opens up a myriad of possibilities for new types of analyses and simulations in what can be termed structural systems biology.”
Check out these press releases from the Burnham Institute for Medical Research and from the Computing Life publication from NIGMS.
Read the article for yourself:
Zhang, Y. , Thiele, I. , Weekes, D. , Li, Z. , et al. Three-dimensional structural view of the central metabolic network of Thermotoga maritima . Science, 325, 1544–1549 (2009). doi:10.1126/science.1174671
Grant supplements available to help elucidate functions
The Protein Structure Initiative would like to remind individuals that funding supplements are available for those who can help determine, through experimental methods, the functional properties or cellular roles of proteins that have been only structurally characterized by the PSI centers. The Functional Sleuth feature, updated weekly on the PSI-Nature Structural Genomics Knowledgebase homepage, currently displays over 1,600 structures solved by the PSI Large-Scale Centers whose functions are not fully characterized. These projects will be administered as collaborations with the individual PSI Centers, and researchers do not need to have prior NIGMS funding to apply.
For more information, please read the funding notice (NOT-GM-08-123).
Coming to a conference near you
Want to learn more about the PSI Structural Genomics Knowledgebase? Representatives will be available at these upcoming meetings.
American Society for Cell Biology Annual Meeting
5–9 December 2009
San Diego, California, USA
Keystone: Structural Genomics: Expanding the Horizons of Structural Biology
8–13 January 2010
Breckenridge, Colorado, USA
Biophysical Society
20–24 February 2010
San Francisco, California, USA
