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汇聚了来自意大利各高校、意大利国家研究委员会以及医院研究中心的结构生物学家。其旗下实验室运用多种衍射方法，探究各类大分子（macromolecules）的结构-功能关联。所研究的绝大多数大分子均与人类健康息息相关：要么直接相关——即参与某种疾病的人类蛋白质；要么间接相关——即由人类病原体表达、并已被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，例如晶体生长、聚合物缔合以及纳米结构的形成。