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大学、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体衍射与小角度X射线衍射技术，研究各类大分子的结构-功能关联。本次研究涉及的绝大多数大分子均与人类健康息息相关：要么直接相关，即作为参与特定疾病进程的人类蛋白质；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。另有部分研究项目聚焦基础化学过程、植物病毒蛋白研究，或是旨在表征具备潜在生物技术应用价值（包括药物递送领域）的大分子。