Austrian Crystallographic Diffraction Consortium

This proposed Austrian Crystallographic Diffraction Consortium (ACDC) BAG is to support various macromolecular structural biology groups across Austria (totally 15 research groups at 8 institutions in 5 cities). We employ mainly the technique of X-ray crystallography to characterize macromolecular biological complexes. Approval of this BAG will be absolutely essential for researchers in all these groups to carry out their structural studies on various health-related subjects, which are targeted at characterizing large molecular assemblies or proteins currently under-represented in the PDB, including membrane proteins. Corresponding high-resolution diffraction data are only obtainable through the use of synchrotron radiation sources. Thus regular synchrotron access is highly desirable to maintain a competitive advantage in our individual research fields.

本提案拟设立的奥地利晶体衍射联盟（Austrian Crystallographic Diffraction Consortium, ACDC）光束分配工作组（BAG），旨在为奥地利境内的各大分子结构生物学研究团队提供支撑。该联盟覆盖5座城市的8家科研机构，共计15个研究小组。该工作组主要采用X射线晶体学（X-ray crystallography）技术，对大分子生物复合物进行表征。该工作组的获批，对于所有上述研究团队开展各类与健康相关的结构研究而言至关重要——此类研究旨在表征目前在蛋白质数据库（Protein Data Bank, PDB）中占比偏低的大型分子组装体与蛋白质，其中包括膜蛋白。此类研究所需的高分辨率衍射数据仅可通过同步辐射光源（synchrotron radiation sources）获取，因此获取常规的同步辐射束流使用权限，是维持各团队在各自研究领域竞争优势的必要条件。