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汇聚了来自意大利各高校、国家研究委员会以及医院研究中心的结构生物学家。该团队的实验室依托单晶X射线衍射与小角X射线衍射技术，对多种生物大分子的结构-功能关系展开研究。本次研究涉及的绝大多数生物大分子均具备一个共同特征：与人类健康密切相关——既包括直接相关的、参与疾病进程的人类蛋白质，也涵盖间接相关的、由人类病原体表达并经验证为潜在药物靶点的蛋白质。另有部分项目聚焦基础化学过程研究、植物病毒蛋白分析，或旨在表征具备潜在生物技术应用价值（包括药物递送领域）的生物大分子。