The Technion Center for Macromolecular Structure Research provides researchers involved in biomedical, bioengineering and renewable energy research the tools to obtain and understand the structure/function relationship of biologically important molecules on the atomic level.
What do we do?
The Macromolecular Structure Research Laboratory is dedicated to the understanding of the structure/function relationship found in biological systems at the molecular level. The laboratory has determined the structures of over 50 macromolecules (proteins or nucleic acids) by X-ray crystallography from a variety of different organisms and systems. These structures, coupled with additional biochemical and biophysical methods, have allowed us to elucidate different critical functions of these systems. At present our main interests lie in the fields of: Photosynthesis, enzymes, stress related proteins, transport proteins and antibiotic development. Our interests in photosynthesis have led us to develop novel methods by which solar energy can be converted to electrical current and molecular hydrogen using photosynthesis directly.
Journal of Material Chemistry A cover http://10.1039/D0TA03444D
Direct solar energy conversion from Photosynthesis. We have linked biological photosynthetic electron flow to a bio-photochemical cell for hydrogen production (left).
Photosynthesis – Elucidation of the structure of the giant Phycobilisome (PBS) antenna complex, with dimensions that can reach 100nm. We have determined and deposited in the Protein Data Bank 15 structures of different PBS components, including the highest resolution structure of any PBS protein.
Unraveling the mechanisms of difficult biochemical systems. We have deposited over 50 structures in the Protein Data Bank of proteins involved in a variety of important biological systems, including: metal ion transport proteins, bacterial enzymes, ribosomal RNA models with aminoglycosides, stress related proteins and mammalian translocation proteins.
