Posters

Obtaining structural information on fragment-protein target is a key factor and also a major limitation. We’ve used MED-SuMo and MED-Hybridise to query and mine the PDB seeking for similar interaction surfaces. MED-portions were used to design novel scaffolds (GPCR) and decorate a given scaffold (kinase). We have analysed the scaffolds in regard to their diversity, their presence in PubChem, PDB and other libraries.

A continuously-fed crystallization chamber is manufactured to allow phase diagram visualization. This microfluidic system allows the experimenter to screen a large range of salt and protein concentrations in one experiment. This allows the experimenter to predict the protein phase diagram in a single experiment. A continuous-feed crystallization chamber has been successfully fabricated and characterized in terms of its flow profile, and has successfully predicted the phase diagram for lysozyme.

mosquito® is a positive displacement liquid handling system capable of pipetting solutions with a high degree of accuracy (to within 5%) and precision (CVs of <10%) in the nanolitre range. Here, we demonstrate mosquito’s ability to dispense accurately low volumes of organic solvents of low surface tension and to re-dissolve compounds which have been previously dried in storage wells.

Synaptotagmin 1 (Syt1) triggers the release of neurotransmitter from docked synaptic vesicles through its interactions with Ca+2, phospholipid and the SNARE complex. We tested whether the disruption of this single H-bond can affect the shape of the Ca+2 binding pocket of C2A by causing loop 3 to collapse.

We’ve used MED-SuMo to query and mine the Protein’s Surface Chemical Functions surrounding fragments of PDB ligands, seeking similarities with the kinase of interest (Vegfr DFGout, pdb code 2oh4, ligand code GIG) and collecting a library of 1129 unique fragments positioned in the vegfr’s active site and annotated with the counts of contacts and h-bonds. With them we optimize a substructure of the GIG ligand to find others DFGout ligands.

FIP (French beamline for the Investigation of Proteins) at the ESRF (European Synchrotron Radiation Facility) pushed developments in automation to reach a fully automated beamline. - The energy adjustment and beam optimization are completely automated. - The screening of the different protein crystals is ensured by a robotic system.In addition, this robot offers the possibility to analyze crystals directly as they grow in drops inside crystallization plates.

The peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) are transcriptional regulators of glucose and lipid metabolism. They are activated by natural ligands, such as fatty acids, and are also target of synthetic antidiabetic and hypolipidemic drugs. By using cell-based reporter assays, we studied the transactivation activity of two enantiomeric ureidofibrate derivatives.

Afitt is a software package for automated ligand conformation generation and placement within algorithmically identified unfilled electron density. Following real space refinement, the ligand solution is sent for subsequent refinement by Refmac or CNX, via coordinate and dictionary files. We have validated Afitt on forty publicly available data sets, chosen because it contains examples of highly strained ligand conformations.

The quest for solving protein structure largely relies upon X-Ray diffraction, a method requiring crystalline forms of the target protein. Among the many steps comprising structure determination, the process of protein crystallization represents one of the most significant, time-consuming challenges. A new low sample volume, automated dynamic light scattering (DLS) technology has been developed – the DynaPro Plate Reader.