ITABAG: 3D structures of macromolecules related to human health

The ITABAG includes structural biologists from Universities, the National Research Council and Hospital research centres in Italy. The laboratories take
advantage of single crystal and small angle X-ray diffraction methods to study the structure-function relationships in various macromolecules. A unifying factor for
the vast majority of the macromolecules under study is that they are related to human health, either directly, being human proteins involved in some disease, or
indirectly, as proteins expressed by human pathogens and validated as potential pharmacological targets. Other projects investigate basic chemical processes,
such as crystal growth, or aim at characterising macromolecules with potential biotechnological applications.

ITABAG由意大利多所大学、国家研究委员会及医院研究中心的结构生物学家组成。各实验室借助单晶X射线衍射（single crystal X-ray diffraction）和小角度X射线衍射（small angle X-ray diffraction）方法，研究各类大分子的结构-功能关系。研究中绝大多数大分子的一个核心共性在于其与人类健康相关：或直接相关，即作为参与某些疾病的人类蛋白质；或间接相关，即作为人类病原体表达的、被验证为潜在药物靶点的蛋白质。其他项目则聚焦于基础化学过程（如晶体生长），或旨在表征具有潜在生物技术应用价值的大分子。