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Department of Structural Biology

  

Chair: Charalampos Kalodimos, PhD

 
 

Departmental Focus

The primary goal of the Department of Structural Biology at St. Jude is to understand life and disease at atomic detail. We use sophisticated biophysical techniques such as Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, X-ray crystallography, cryo-Electron Microscopy and Tomography, Single Molecule spectroscopy and Mass Spectrometry to determine the three-dimensional structures of biological molecules. Such studies provide a precious glimpse into the cellular activity and increase our understanding of life’s most fundamental processes and the diseases that result when these processes malfunction. Because proteins are very dynamic molecules, we are also using experimental and computational tools to investigate how proteins adjust rapidly their structures to carry out their biological function.

Researchers in our department are working to decipher the molecular details of key biological processes such as cell signaling, cell death, DNA repair, protein folding and misfolding, and cell transport. The detailed structures of proteins involved in these processes can be leveraged to help design new medicines, materials and diagnostic procedures. Availability of atomic-level structures of proteins and their complexes enables the rational design of small molecules that manipulate their function and can thus have powerful therapeutic potential. 

Watch our scientific video.

Contact Us

Department of Structural Biology
MS 311, Room D1024
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
262 Danny Thomas Place
Memphis, TN 38105-3678

Email: lynette.nelson@stjude.org
Phone: (901) 595-2917
Fax: (901) 595-3032

Preferred contact method: email

Faculty

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