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Pau Bernadó, research associate at the Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Laboratory at IRB Barcelona publishes an article in the 'News & Views' of the prestigious journal Nature. The paper deals with new structural approaches that allow the interpretation of protein structures in terms of sets of conformations rather than as static images. This view offers a more complete picture of biomolecules allowing to visualize structural changes of proteins, particularly relevant for the proper functioning of these biomolecules. Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) and Small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) are techniques that allow this dynamic interpretation of the structures. In this context, SAXS technique is especially relevant because it allows the study of structural changes of large protein complexes in their natural state and does not require sophisticated sample preparations. This technique, in recent expansion, is performed in specialized synchrotron lines as the one to be accessible in the ALBA synchrotron, opening soon in Barcelona.
About IRB Barcelona
The Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) pursues a society free of disease. To this end, it conducts multidisciplinary research of excellence to cure cancer and other diseases linked to ageing. It establishes technology transfer agreements with the pharmaceutical industry and major hospitals to bring research results closer to society, and organises a range of science outreach activities to engage the public in an open dialogue. IRB Barcelona is an international centre that hosts 400 researchers and more than 30 nationalities. Recognised as a Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence since 2011, IRB Barcelona is a CERCA centre and member of the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST).
