MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology
One of the world's leading research institutes, our scientists are working to advance understanding of biological processes at the molecular level - providing the knowledge needed to solve key problems in human health.
The LMB’s Wolfgang Schmied, in collaboration with Stéphanie Polderdijk from the Cambridge Institute for Medical Research, won ‘Best Technology’ prize in the 2017 Biomaker Challenge for developing a low-cost chromatography system for protein purification. The Challenge aims to show the value of open, low-cost and DIY technologies as convening points for interactions between biologists and engineers. More…
A new study led by John O’Neill and Ned Hoyle shows how bodyclocks in skin cells influence wound healing. More…
Lori Passmore and her group have used electron cryo-microscopy to solve the structure of CPF, a protein complex critical for gene expression. Understanding the structure and function of intact CPF, and how it is assembled, has been a central question in the field of gene expression for decades. [A Log-in or subscription may be required to view this article from the host site: https://www.drugtargetreview.com/news/27088/cryo-electron-microscopy-cpf/]
Scientists have caught a rare view of an unusual kinase poised to phosphorylate its substrate. Led by David Komander, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, England, U.K., the researchers reported the crystal structure of the kinase PINK1 bound to ubiquitin in the October 30 Nature. “We captured a pre-catalytic state, a snapshot of PINK1 holding ubiquitin before the phosphate group jumps on,” said first author Alexander Schubert. More…
Using the nematode as one test system, scientists at CCNR have spent the past several years understanding how a network controls itself—for instance, which individual neurons in the worm’s brain are in charge of a backward wiggle. In research published in Nature, they describe for the first time their ability to predict, test, and confirm with unprecedented detail how a nematode’s brain controls the way it moves. Colleagues from Bill Schafer’s group at the LMB tested the predictions by killing individual neurons from the nematode brain with a laser. They then measured the effects of these “microsurgeries” on behaviour. More…
A new approach to targeting key cancer-linked proteins, thought to be ‘undruggable’, has been discovered through an alliance between industry and academia created by Cancer Research UK. David Komander’s group in the LMB is one of the groups involved in this unique collaboration, that shows that two novel and specific small-molecule inhibitors developed by the alliance can bind to and deactivate an enzyme that controls the stability of the p53 tumour suppressor protein. This deactivation allows p53 to be turned on, putting the brakes on cancer growth. More…