Insight on Research

In solving the structure of the human inner kinetochore bound to a centromeric CENP-A nucleosome, David Barford’s group in the LMB’s Structural Studies Division has revealed how the complex recognises centromeric DNA and functions as a load-bearing element during chromosome segregation.

Structural analysis of GABAA receptors by Radu Aricescu’s group, in the LMB’s Neurobiology Division, has revealed possibility for an unexpected variety in subunit arrangement, with significant implications for future research and therapeutic developments.

Inter-divisional collaboration between the groups of Sjors Scheres, Michel Goedert and others identified TMEM106B as a new protein responsible for amyloid filament formation, and showed that these filaments develop in an age-dependent manner in human brains.

Chris Tate’s group, in the LMB’s Structural Studies Division, have used cryo-EM analysis to show that Ste2, a fungal Class D GPCR, has a fundamentally distinct activation mechanism in comparison to other types of GPCRs.

Kelly Nguyen’s group in the LMB’s Structural Studies Division has determined the molecular basis of how the TPP1 and POT1 components of shelterin recruit human telomerase to telomeres and regulate the enzyme’s activity during genomic replication.

Using genetic code expansion techniques, Jason Chin’s group in the LMB’s PNAC Division have designed a new mechanism-based, light-activated technique to trap and identify new protease and other hydrolase substrates.