Using PETRA III to watch the disabling of a penicillin killer

Scientists observe in detail the binding and formation of covalent bonds of an inhibitor to a bacterial enzyme that disables common antibiotics

31-Jul-2024 - Antibiotic resistance is a major and particularly in recent years a growing challenge in medicine. Scientists around the world are searching for new and efficient compounds to treat bacterial infections, especially infections caused by multi-resistant bacteria. A research collaboration of ...

Research team finds possible new approach for sleeping sickness drugs

X-ray laser reveals structure of a key enzyme of the parasite Trypanosoma brucei

04-Feb-2020 - Using ultra-bright X-ray flashes, a team of researchers has tracked down a potential target for new drugs against sleeping sickness: The scientists have decoded the detailed spatial structure of a vital enzyme of the pathogen, the parasite Trypanosoma brucei. The result provides a possible ...

Novel nozzle saves crystals

Double flow concept widens spectrum for protein crystallography

21-Mar-2017 - Thanks to an innovative nozzle, scientists can now analyse more types of proteins while using fewer of the hard-to-get protein crystals. The nozzle can reduce protein consumption eightfold in serial X-ray crystallography experiments, as the team of inventors, headed by DESY scientist Saša Bajt ...

X-ray pulses reveal structure of viral cocoon

15-Feb-2017 - An international team of scientists has used high-intensity X-ray pulses to determine the structure of the crystalline protein envelope of an insect virus. Their analysis reveals the fine details of the building blocks that make up the viral cocoon down to a scale of 0.2 nanometres (millionths of ...

Scientists X-ray protein crystals inside cells

Novel approach to unveil the structure of challenging biomolecules

22-Jan-2016 - Scientists from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory EMBL have teamed up with experts from DESY and the U.S. SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory to X-ray protein crystals naturally produced within biological cells. The study at the world's currently most powerful X-ray laser LCLS at SLAC ...

X-ray vision of photosynthesis

New technique facilitates analysis of biomolecules in a near-natural state

07-Nov-2014 - Photosynthesis is one of the most important processes in nature. The complex method by which all green plants harvest sunlight and thereby produce the oxygen in our air is still not fully understood. Researchers have used DESY's X-ray light source PETRA III to investigate a photosynthesis ...