Project Grant R41GM139420

This Project Grant from the National Science Foundation's Integrative Activities program totaling $154,755 will enhance structural science capacity in the Rocky Mountain Northwest region through microcrystal electron diffraction training. The University of Montana will provide comprehensive microcrystal electron diffraction analysis instruction and experience to the principal investigator and two trainees from remote learning and collaborative visits to the National Center for Cryo-Electron...

This Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation's Biological Sciences (CFDA 47.074) program provides $743,852 to Saint Louis University (SLU) to acquire an XTALAB SYNERGY-R single crystal diffractometer. This state-of-the-art scientific instrument will enable researchers across 13 different SLU colleges, as well as collaborators from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, to collect high-quality X-ray diffraction data from organic compounds and biological macromolecules. The...

This three-year, $1,368,422 project grant from the National Science Foundation's Mathematical and Physical Sciences program (CFDA 47.049) supports the development of cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM) to study phase separation in lipid membranes. Frederick A. Heberle of the University of Tennessee and M. Neal Waxham of the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston will optimize cryo-EM imaging techniques to visualize nanoscale lipid raft domains in cell membranes. Goals include...

This federal Project Grant award from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) Biomedical Research and Research Training Program (CFDA 93.859) provides $349,999 to Denovx, LLC to adapt the company's surface science approach to improving protein crystallization for enhancing cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM) specimen quality. The goal is to identify physical and chemical modifications to cryo-EM support materials that can enhance the adsorption and random orientation of...

This $531,227 CAREER award from the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Engineering program to the University of California, Irvine (UC Irvine) aims to develop a new "OptOGel Proteomics" technique for high-resolution analysis of subcellular protein localization and function. The project will focus initial validation on mapping the nuclear lamina, a cellular structure implicated in cancer and aging. The research seeks to overcome limitations of current spatial proteomics tools by...

This Project Grant award of $175,000 from the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) program (CFDA 47.070) supports the development of a modular framework for modeling the binding of peptides and proteins to cell membranes. The key products to be delivered include: A software "mover" implemented in the Rosetta C++ codebase to predict the placement of proteins and peptides in cell membranes, an application of this mover compatible...

This $534,974 Project Grant awarded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) Division of Chemistry supports the development of native-like peptoid macrodiscs and advanced solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) methods for structural studies of membrane proteins. The principal investigator, Professor Alexander Nevzorov and his research group at North Carolina State University (NC State), are designing synthetic lipid-based membrane systems to enable high-resolution NMR spectroscopy of these...

This $165,123 project grant from the National Science Foundation's Mathematical and Physical Sciences program will support the development of new computational methods and software tools for predicting polymorphic crystal structures of organic molecules and elucidating phase transition mechanisms. Mark Tuckerman of New York University and Jerome Delhommelle of the University of North Dakota will create a topological theory for crystal structure generation based solely on molecular order...

This Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Biological Sciences program (CFDA 47.074) provides $488,799 to the Regents of the University of Michigan to develop the BioMemBHub cyberinfrastructure. The key products and services delivered through this grant include: The development of an integrated platform consisting of seven web servers and three large databases to enable exploration of the structural and dynamic aspects of biomolecules in membranes. The web servers will...

The National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded a $595,476 Project Grant under the Mathematical and Physical Sciences (CFDA 47.049) program to The Johns Hopkins University. The grant will support a 3-year research project to study and develop a new class of immobilization substrates, namely mesoporous protein crystals, for critical element separation. The project aims to obtain a comprehensive understanding of protein crystals as substrates for immobilizing metal-binding proteins (MBPs) to...