Category: SAXS

Structural Basis for Marburg Virus Neutralization by a Cross-Reactive Human Antibody

The facilities and staff at the SIBYLS beamline contributed to this recent structural study of a human antibody that is able to neutralize Marburg and Ebola viruses. >The filoviruses, including Marburg and Ebola, express a single glycoprotein on their surface, termed GP, which is responsible for attachment and entry of target cells. Filovirus GPs differ…
Read more

Comprehensive macromolecular conformations mapped by quantitative SAXS analyses

SIBYLS scientists have recently published and made available tools for generating [SAXS structural comparison maps](/saxs_similarity “SAXS structural comparison maps”). Details of the methods have been published in Nature Methods. >Biological macromolecular functions require distinct conformational states that are challenging to examine comprehensively. Current methods to quantify conformational similarities and distinguish different assembly states are underdeveloped.…
Read more

Review: Validating Macromolecular Flexibility by SAXS

We bring to your attention a nice review published recently in the European Biophysics Journal describing the theoretical and practical considerations when using SAXS to characterize macromolecular flexibility. >The dynamics of macromolecular conformations are critical to the action of cellular networks. Solution X-ray scattering studies, in combination with macromolecular X-ray crystallography (MX) and nuclear magnetic…
Read more

Model of UV-B sensing by UVR8, a heme-free photoreceptor.

Researchers from [Scripps Research Institute](http://www.scripps.edu/news/press/20120209getzoff.html) and the University of Glasgow have published a detailed molecular model of how UVR8, a unique heme-free plant photoreceptor, senses UV-B light via an intricate interacting mesh of Tryptophan residues positioned at the UVR8 dimer interface which ultimately results in the disruption of a salt bridge and dissociation of the…
Read more

Small Angle X-ray Scattering (the book)

From the January edition of “[Crystallography Times](http://www.rigaku.com/newsletter.html)” from Rigaku: > Small Angle X-ray Scattering (eds. Glatter & Kratky) can be freely (and legally) [downloaded](http://physchem.kfunigraz.ac.at/sm/Service/Glatter_Kratky_SAXS_1982.zip) from the [Scattering Methods](http://physchem.kfunigraz.ac.at/sm/) program at the University of Graz. The book provides a basic introduction to SAXS, followed by detailed fundamental theoretical and experimental aspects, as well as methods for…
Read more

Ku and DNA-PKcs dynamic conformations

The number one in the citation hits for SAXS-study in 2010 obtained SIBYLS collaborative work on Ku and DNA-PKcs ([Hammel et al. 2010](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19893054)). Here, Ku and DNA-PKcs solution structures alone and in complex with DNA, defined by X-ray scattering (SAXS), reveal major structural reorganizations that choreograph non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) initiation. These results show how…
Read more

Fast SAXS profile computation with Debye formula

FoXS, a new webapp which uses the Debye formula for calculating theoretical scattering profiles, has been made available on the ModBase website. Give it a try to see how it compares to CRYSOL. FoXS is a method for computing a theoretical scattering profile of a structure and fitting of experimental profile. FoXS can be used…
Read more

SIBYLS Beamline Awarded 50,000 Hours on the DOE’s NERSC Supercomputer Cluster to Analyze SAXS Data

The SIBYLS beamline has recently been awarded 50,000 hours on the NERSC (National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center) to perform solution structure modeling using experimental SAXS data. Besides the usual ab-initio reconstructions programs a new approach in rigid body modeling BILBOMD has been parallelized on the NERSC supercomputer. It is commonly acknowledged that flexibility between domains of…
Read more