2022-05-18

Existence of twisting in dislocation-free protein single crystals

Significance Growing high-quality protein crystals is a prerequisite for the structure analysis of proteins by X-ray diffraction. However, dislocation-free perfect protein crystals such as silicon and diamond are limited to two kinds of protein crystals. We wonder whether other high-quality or dislocation-free protein crystals still exhibit some imperfection. Here, we explore the existence of twisting as a cause of imperfection in high-quality protein crystals by X-ray topography with synchrotron radiation. The magnitude of twisting is quite small and cannot be detected by conventional techniques as optical and electron microscopy. The formation of twisting may be related to the geometric frustration mechanism proposed as a primary mechanism of twisting. This finding provides insights on high-quality protein crystals with the ubiquity of twisting.
2022-05-18

Structural insights into the HBV receptor and bile acid transporter NTCP

Around 250 million people are infected with hepatitis B virus (HBV) worldwide1, and 15 million may also carry the satellite virus hepatitis D virus (HDV), which confers even greater risk of severe liver disease2.
2022-05-18

Impact of renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system inhibitors on COVID-19

Since the onset of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the possible roles of renin–angiotensin system (RAS) inhibitors in COVID-19 have been debated as favorable, harmful, or neutral.
2022-05-18

Almost all protein crystals are twisted! :Successful observation of slight twisting

A research group that included Yokohama City University Graduate School of Nanobioscience third-year doctoral program student Marina Abe, Assistant Professor Ryo Suzuki, Professor Masaru Tachibana, and