AREA I BIOMOLECULAR STRUCTURE & FUNCTION: AIDS

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This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. The major Area I goals are to elucidate the structures and functions of biological molecules with the aim of understanding and explaining their functions in development and in cellular events. A major new initiative for the five-year renewal is to recruit a new faculty member in the area of X-ray diffraction for the determination of protein structure and to provide startup funds to equip this facility. Our request for the hire of an X-ray crystallographer is motivated by the need to complement and enhance the ongoing structural work carried out by NMR. We have also secured X-ray crystalography equipment which was donated by Novartis and set up through funds from the college in the new Pathways Bioinformatics and Biotechnology Center at CCNY. Recent developments in biochemistry and structural biology allow members of Area I to further expand their areas of study into large macromolecules and macromolecular assemblies. To be more productive and competitive, they must exploit the new technologies and turn to increased use of NMR techniques in conjunction with the NMR facilities that are integral to the New York City Structural Biology Center. In accord with this goal we have added Dr. Sacha De Carlo whose research focuses on 3D electron microscopy and computer-assisted image processing to study the structure, function and dynamics of molecular assemblies involved in fundamental biological processes such as protein folding and transcription.