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 clear majority of the macromolecules under study is their relationship 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, the study of plant viral proteins, or aim at characterising macromolecules with potential biotechnological applications including drug delivery.

ITABAG汇集了来自意大利各高校、国家研究委员会及医院研究中心的结构生物学家。该团队所属实验室采用单晶X射线衍射与小角X射线衍射技术，对各类生物大分子的结构-功能关联开展研究。本次研究覆盖的绝大多数生物大分子，均与人类健康存在关联：一类为直接相关，即参与疾病进程的人类蛋白质；另一类为间接相关，即人类病原体表达且经验证可作为潜在药物靶点的蛋白质。另有部分研究项目聚焦基础化学过程、植物病毒蛋白研究，或旨在表征具备潜在生物技术应用价值（涵盖药物递送领域）的生物大分子。