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Coronavirus Spike Protein Membrane Fusion

by Eric Martz
SARS-CoV-2 spike protein "spears" the host membrane with a fusion peptide and drags the virus envelope membrane transmembrane domain close to the host membrane, initiating fusion. This moves the virus RNA genome into the host cell, initiating infection.
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Opening a Gate to Human Health

by Alice Clark (PDBe)
In the 1970s, an exciting discovery of a family of medicines was made by the Japanese scientist Satoshi Ōmura. One of these molecules, ivermectin, is shown in this artwork bound in the ligand binding pocket of the Farnesoid X receptor, a protein which helps regulate cholesterol in humans. This structure showed that ivermectin induced transcriptional activity of FXR and could be used to regulate metabolism.

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Structure of Anticancer Ruthenium Half-Sandwich Complex Bound to Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3ß

G Atilla-Gocumen, L Di Costanzo, E Meggers. J Biol Inorg Chem. 2010 doi: 10.1007/s00775-010-0699-x
A crystal structure of an organometallic half-sandwich ruthenium complex bound to glycogen synthase kinase 3ß (GSK-3ß) reveals that the inhibitor binds to the ATP binding site via an induced fit mechanism utilizing several hydrogen bonds and hydrophobic interactions. Importantly, the metal is not involved in any direct interaction with the protein kinase but fulfills a purely structural role.

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Polio is still here!
Polio vaccines have been available since the 1950s, but the challenges of vaccination in remote areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan have prevented worldwide eradication. In 2022, polio was found circulating in parts of New York State, USA. The polio virus has a small RNA genome enclosed in an icosahedral capsid composed of several proteins, shown cut in half. The structures of virus capsids can be explored using free FirstGlance in Jmol.

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