Protein Dynamics

Started in June 2025, a new collaborative science project called diffUSE involving Vanderbilt University, Cornell University, and the University of California, San Francisco, could be the next watershed moment. The $5 million, three-year project led by the Astera Institute will advance our understanding of protein motion. Using diffuse scattering, an overlooked signal measured by X-ray crystallography, the project will determine how protein dynamics are characterized, leading to a new paradigm in dynamic structural biology. Read More

Dr. Jumper’s work with AlphaFold2 represents an unprecedented step in the integration of artificial intelligence and the natural sciences. John and his colleagues have given us inspiring evidence of its limitless potential for advancing scientific discovery. Read More

Benjamin P. Brown, assistant professor of pharmacology, and colleagues in the departments of molecular physiology and biophysics, pharmacology, and chemistry, have determined that AlphaFold2 can be used to generate approximations of relative conformational preferences of proteins, which will help researchers better understand a protein’s structure and function across a range of conditions and mutational states. Read More

The 2024 Center for Structural Biology Symposium, which took place on March 28, celebrated its decades of success, research undertakings, and goal of strengthening the structural biology community at Vanderbilt. Read More