Structural Biology

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

Driven by personal loss, a graduate student and his mentors unveil the mysteries of CFTR mutations, seeking to unlock new treatments for cystic fibrosis patients who currently resist available drugs. Read More

In a new study published in Nature Communications, the Doug Kojetin and Zhongyue Yang labs use peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma—more commonly known as PPAR—as a model system to understand the functional shifts of nuclear receptor LBDs. Read More

A newly determined structure from the lab of Yi Ren reveals information about the mRNA export pathway and suggests that herpes viruses could hijack that interaction to infect their host. The new structures also reveal how certain mutations in the protein complex could play a role in cancers. Read More

Nobel Prize winner Venki Ramakrishnan delivered a captivating talk as part of the School of Medicine Basic Sciences Apex Lecture Series. His presentation was based on his best-selling book, Why We Die, which explores the biological mechanisms behind aging and death and humanity's efforts to prolong life. Read More

As a fifth-year graduate student in the Biochemistry Graduate Program, Jenny focuses on dissecting the allostery involved in heme biosynthesis initiation using an integrated structural biology approach in the lab of Professor Breann Brown. Her work has led to collaborations with other Vanderbilt labs, including the labs of Jens Meiler, John Yang and Jason MacGurn. Read More

In a recent episode of Smarter Every Day, YouTube sensation and host Destin Sandlin talks with Vanderbilt Professor Tina Iverson and Senior Research Associate Prashant Singh about bacterial “motors” and how they work in the microorganisms that make us sick. The video racked up more than 1.4 million views in its first day. Read More

An international collaboration led by Professor of Pharmacology Tina Iverson was spotlighted by the popular YouTube channel Smarter Every Day. Iverson's work identified how bacteria move in response to their environment, a process essential for infection by pathogens. 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

Structure of a caveolin-1 complex obtained using cryo-electron microscopy. A protomer, or a structural unit, is highlighted in magenta. The image was cropped to focus on panel A of Figure 1 of the paper, modified and published here in accordance to a CC BY-NC 4.0 license. Read More