Stark

Holger Stark and his team have broken a crucial resolution barrier in cryo-electron microscopy. The scientists succeeded in observing single atoms in a protein structure and taking the sharpest images ever with this method. Such unprecedented details are essential to understand how proteins perform their work or cause diseases in the living cell. The technique can in future also be used to develop active compounds for new drugs. more

Tuberculosis still represents the infectious disease with the highest fatality numbers and is caused by mycobacteria. The fatty acid biosynthetic factory is an important target in the fight against this infectious bacterium. Göttingen researchers have now discovered a protein that commands and controls FAS function. This finding not only opens up new therapeutic venues, particularly against tuberculosis. In biotechnological applications this new control unit enables the generation of tailor-made fatty acid synthases.  more

Researchers around Holger Stark and Niels Fischer of the MPI for Biophysical Chemistry, together with colleagues, succeeded to visualize complex movements at the ribosome which explain its astounding accuracy in cellular protein production. They were able to elucidate in atomic detail how the ribosome reliably integrates the correct amino acid into a protein. (in German) more

Formation of macromolecular machines within cells is often a complicated endeavor. Biochemists of the University of Würzburg and the MPI for Biophysical Chemistry have now unraveled new details of these processes. They show that cells invest a great deal of effort into preventing production errors. more

An international team of scientists from Austria, Germany, and the United States has combined newly developed techniques in electron microscopy and protein assembly to elucidate how cells regulate one of the most important steps in cell division. more