ITABAG: 3D structures of macromolecules related to human health

The ITABAG includes structural biologists from Universities, National Research Council and Hospital research centres in Italy. The laboratories apply various 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 and polymer association and formation of nanostructures.

ITABAG汇集了来自意大利各大学、国家研究委员会及医院研究中心的结构生物学家（structural biologists）。这些实验室运用多种衍射方法，研究各类大分子的结构与功能关系。研究中绝大多数大分子的一个共同特征是它们均与人类健康相关：要么直接相关，即参与某些疾病的人类蛋白质；要么间接相关，即由人类病原体表达且被验证为潜在药物靶点的蛋白质。其他项目则研究基础化学过程，例如晶体生长、聚合物缔合及纳米结构的形成。