• Protein expression and purification
• Biophysical characterisation of macromolecular complexes
• Introduction to electron microscopy
• X-ray crystallography, small angle X-ray scattering and serial crystallography using synchrotron radiation
• Application of nuclear magnetic resonance in structural biology
• Mass spectrometry in protein-protein interaction studies
• Single-molecule methods and super-resolution light microscopy
• AI-based structure prediction methods

The ORNL Neutron Sciences Directorate is organizing a workshop, Neutrons in Structural Biology â€" Challenges & Opportunities, to be held June 10-12, 2024 at the Sheraton Pentagon City Hotel, Arlington, VA. The goal of the workshop is to garner support for the construction of the macromolecular neutron diffraction beamline EWALD at ORNL’s Second Target Station. EWALD will be capable of performing biological neutron crystallography on radically smaller crystals to help meet neutron beamtime demand for challenging biological systems.

The workshop will highlight the biological scientific community’s need for access to a new generation of neutron scattering capabilities to address pressing challenges in biochemistry, structural biology, enzymology and drug design that cannot be solved with the current neutron scattering technology or other structural biology techniques such as X-ray crystallography, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, and cryo-EM.

The workshop will also introduce the Instrument Scientific Advisory Committee for the development of a macromolecular neutron diffractometer at ORNL’s Second Target Station. The beamline will deliver orders of magnitude gains in performance for biological research and expand accessibility to larger biological systems crucial for understanding biochemistry and advancing the design of future therapeutics.Â

In addition, the Dynamic Nuclear Polarization (DNP)-enabled IMAGINE-X instrument, a capability recently funded by the Department of Energy’s Biopreparedness Research Virtual Environment (BRaVE) Initiative, will be presented at the workshop. IMAGINE-X, under construction at the High Flux Isotope Reactor, will dramatically enhance signal from hydrogen atoms, obviating the need for deuteration, and decreasing the crystal volume required for a successful experiment by one-to-two orders of magnitude. The successful development of the DNP capability and its implementation at the STS beamline will create a "quantum leap" in biological macromolecular neutron crystallography.

The workshop will be a forum for structural biology and biochemistry experts, early career researchers, and students to discuss scientific advances and collaboration opportunities. The workshop will include a 1-day satellite training workshop (June 10, 2024) to educate graduate students and postdoctoral researchers in the application of neutron crystallography and small angle scattering in structural biology.

The conference aims to provide a forum to highlight state-of-the-art developments in computational cryoEM and related themes, as well as showcasing outstanding recent biological applications. We aim to promote an inclusive, friendly atmosphere, welcoming those both old and new to the community. Topics include instrument technology, sample preparation, image processing, single particle reconstruction, tomography and model building.
 

The meeting also includes the Diamond Light Source Biological Cryo-Imaging User Meeting for eBIC & B24 and associated satellite meetings for correlative microscopy (eBIC), soft X-ray tomography (B24) & automated live processing for SPA and cryoET (eBIC).

The conference will be held as a hybrid meeting, with the physical event at the EMCC in Nottingham, plus virtual access online via Zoom. 


 

RapiData 2024 at SSRL is a practical course in macromolecular X-ray diffraction data collection, data processing and structure solution. The aim of the RapiData course is to educate and train young scientists in data collection and processing methods at synchrotron beamlines, using state-of-the-art software and instrumentation.

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Topics:

• Specimen preparation, tactics in data collection
• X-ray light sources
• X-ray detectors
• Data reduction
• Structure solving by MAD, SAD and Molecular replacement
• Complementary methods (spectroscopy and small angle scattering)

Workshop 1: Cryo-EM Sample Preparation, Screening, Data Collection and Analysis (In-person)

 This workshop will focus on single-particle analysis of macromolecules, covering various aspects such as sample preparation (including both negative staining and cryo-sample preparation), sample screening using screening electron microscopes (EMs), data collection employing high-end EMs (e.g., Krios), and data analysis using LBMS GPU computers with modern software (e.g., CryoSPARC). To optimize interactions and hands-on experience, this workshop will be limited to 16 participants, selected based on their application materials.

All applicants must submit their application online by February 4, 2024.

The topics for this year's symposium are:

• 3D Heterogeneity
• Protocols for automation; from correlative LM to Aquilos and beyond
• AI Deep Learning
• Data Validation, model building and model quality
• Feature Annotation and Segmentation in-situ, and identifications of proteins from volume
• Round Table on data archiving and public data repository policies

The event is live or view on-demand:

Protein & DNA/RNA Structure Modeling for Cryo-EM maps

November 16, 2023 (Thursday)

New York (EST) Thursday, November 16th, 2023 from 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM.
California (PST) Thursday, November 16th, 2023 from 8:00 AM - 9:00 AM.
London Thursday, November 16th, 2023 from 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM.
China Friday, November 17th, 2023 from 12:00 AM - 1:00 AM.
Japan/Korea Friday, November 17th, 2023 from 1:00 AM - 2:00 AM.

Speakers:

Daisuke Kihara, Genki Terashi, & Xiao Wang, Purdue University

 

This webinar introduces software tools for protein and DNA/RNA structural modeling in cryo-EM maps: DeepMainmast for protein structure, CryoREAD for DNA/RNA, and DAQ for structure validation of protein structure models. Our speakers will introduce the algorithms of these tools and explain how to use them on web servers and other platforms. Whether you are new to structure modeling for cryo-EM maps or looking to enhance your skills, this webinar offers valuable insights into the latest developments and practical tools in structural modeling.

See references on the registration page for more information about the tools.

You will learn...

 1. The overview of the algorithm of computational modeling tools, DeepMainmast (for proteins) and CryoREAD (for DNA/RNA).
 2. The algorithm of the protein structure model quality estimation tool, the DAQ score.
 3. How to use the tools on the web server and Google Colab platform.

Taking place in person again, this year's workshop will be bringing together leading experts in the field of MX to teach best practice in data collection and analysis. Open to PhD students, postdocs and young researchers bringing their own crystals or data.

Structural bioinformatics is undergoing a fast transformation with major breakthroughs from experimental methods such as cryo-electron microscopy to disruptive and transformative new approaches in computational prediction methods based on AI and machine learning.

We aim to bring together structural bioinformatics researchers from two communities, 3D-BioInfo and 3D-SIG, for networking and to exchange ideas on the workflows and resources needed to exploit the transformative new developments in the data and methods. We will learn about devising strategies for integrating predicted data and benchmarking the prediction tools.

The 3D-SIG ISCB (International Society for Computational Biology) Community in Structural Bioinformatics covers the same broad research themes as 3D-BioInfo and is a Community of Scientific Interest (COSI) within the International Society for Computational Biology (ISCB). It hosts a scientific track within the ISCB’s annual conference and organises webinars some of which are joint with 3D-BioInfo.

The ELIXIR Czech Republic Community brings together researchers working in a range of bioinformatics and computational themes and is supporting infrastructure developments, tools and resources across the country.

The 25th Heart of Europe Bio-Crystallography Meeting (HEC25) has been organized by the Institut für Biochemie, Greifswald University. As for previous HEC meetings, this is an academic conference on structural biology, in particular protein crystallography. Researchers from universities, other research institutions and industry from Austria, Czech Republic, Germany and Poland meet to present and discuss current topics of their research.