|
|
|
|
 |
|
| |
|
| Hamburg, 1 February 2007 |
|
| New Facility for Structural Biology to investigate the
molecules of life with powerful synchrotron radiation
|
|
|
|
 |
Artist's impression of the PETRA-III hall. |
|
EMBL Hamburg builds an Integrated Facility for Structural Biology at PETRA-III –
EMBL@PETRA-III
Press
Release 1 February 2007 [PDF]
Downloadable Photos
German
The German Federal Ministry for
Education and Research [BMBF] has awarded 8.8 Million Euro to
the Hamburg Outstation of the European Molecular Biology
Laboratory [EMBL] for the construction of an Integrated
Research Facility for Structural Biology at the new PETRA-III
storage ring of the German Synchrotron Research Centre
[DESY], named EMBL@PETRA-III. The new facility will comprise
a complete and automated pipeline for structural investigations
of proteins and other biological molecules using the high-energy
X-rays of PETRA-III, soon to be one of the world's most powerful
radiation sources. The new addition to EMBL Hamburg's
existing structural biology facilities will start operations in 2010.
X-rays are an extremely powerful tool in the life sciences. The
crucial molecules that determine our life, such as proteins and
DNA, are too small to be observed with even the most sophisticated
light microscopes. At EMBL Hamburg, structural biologists
use the high-energy radiation of DESY's synchrotron to generate
three-dimensional images and to study the structure of biological
molecules. Often the high-resolution images of proteins involved
in diseases serve as the starting-point for the development of new
drugs. In the last four years, EMBL Hamburg has for example
solved the structure of over 30 proteins involved in causing tuberculosis
and has identified several potential drug targets.
"PETRA-III will be one of the world's strongest synchrotron rings
with leading optical parameters," says Matthias Wilmanns, Head
of EMBL Hamburg, "but to foster the use of this radiation efficiently
for the life sciences, it needs technical skills and experience.
EMBL Hamburg has developed great expertise practicing
research in structural biology for over 30 years and coordinating
several big EU projects in the field. Now we will bring together
the cutting-edge technology provided by DESY and our expertise
in the life sciences in the new Integrated Facilities for Structural
Biology at PETRA-III to make them available to the scientific
community."
EMBL@PETRA-III and its services will be accessible to structural
biologists from all around the world and user time will be allocated
exclusively according to scientific merit. The new facilities at
PETRA-III will allow to investigate protein machines of unprecedented
complexity and size and provide the unique opportunity
to carry out pilot experiments in life sciences in preparation for
the future X-ray Free Electron Laser at DESY.
EMBL@PETRA-III will feature three state-of-the-art synchrotron
radiation beamlines. One of them will be dedicated to "Small
Angle X-ray Scattering"[SAXS], which studies proteins or protein
complexes in solution to infer their overall shape and gain knowledge
about dynamic processes in biology. The other two beamlines
will be used for crystallography, a technique to determine
the structure of crystallised proteins. The extremely focused synchrotron
beams of PETRA-III will reveal atomic details of crystals
as small as the fraction of a micrometer for the first time. The new
facility will also house infrastructure for high-throughput protein
crystallisation, sample preparation and characterisation and data
processing, allowing all steps of structural investigation of molecules
to be carried out under one roof. This will greatly speed up
the investigation of molecules relevant to life and disease.
"This unique facility will allow us to go beyond current physical
limitations and to tackle problems that were out of reach in the
past," says Thomas Schneider, Project Coordinator of
EMBL@PETRA-III. "It will not only strengthen Europe's role as a
key player in the life sciences, but will also further raise the profile
of the city of Hamburg in the European research landscape."
More information on the EMBL@PETRA-III project
Press Contact
Anna-Lynn Wegener
Press Officer
EMBL Heidelberg
Tel: +49 6221 387-8452
Email: wegener@embl.de |
|
|
|
|
