Uncovering 3D protein structures to combat infectious diseases

Scientists from the Seattle Structural Genomics Center for Infectious Disease (SSGCID) have solved the 3D structure of the 1000th protein from more than 70 organisms that cause infectious diseases. The studied proteins were derived from microbes that cause diseases such as anthrax, chlamydia, Clostridium difficile, Ebola virus, flu, giardia, Legionella, Listeria, Lyme disease, and tuberculosis. SSGCID is funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and aims to uncover the structure of proteins that cause pathogens to survive and infect humans. Learning the precise shape of proteins arms scientists with the tools to develop better treatments and vaccines. SSGCID biochemist Garry Buchko’s primary expertise is with nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). By harnessing the NMR technology, Buchko can scrutinize proteins from pathogen to create an atomic-level picture. The technique works by placing a protein inside an NMR spectrometer, which records information about the orientation, energy and other properties of each of the...