By the way, Xtal stands for Crystal.
Universiteit Utrecht: Faculty of Science, Utrecht University (The Netherlands).
The Bijvoet Center for Biomolecular Research aims to gain further insight into the relation, at the molecular level, between the structure and the function/activity of biomolecules that are involved in recognition, interaction, and regulatory processes.
Our Crystal and Structural Chemistry group is focused on crystallography (elucidation of molecular structures at atomic resolution based on X-ray diffraction data) with main research lines in crystallographic methods, chemical crystallography and structural biology.
The Structural Biology section uses protein crystallography to study bio-molecular recognition and regulation processes, such as the arrest of bleeding, infection and immunity. The subsequent steps to solve protein X-ray structures are: cloning, expression, purification, crystallization, X-ray diffraction data collection and structure determination. Characterization, binding studies and other biochemical/biophysical techniques are indispensable for the success rate.
Projects: complement immune system, Toll- and Nod-like receptors, haemostasis, viral proteins, amyloids, lipid-binding proteins, bacterial outer-membrane proteins and in the nearby future mammalian integral membrane proteins (IMP's).
Academic News:
2011-01-21: Professoren protesteren tegen bezuinigingen
2011-01-20: Landelijke Beta-Actie & Nieuwjaarsspeech decaan Beta
2010-11-01: New Dean Faculty of Science
2010-09-27: Spinoza prize Piet Gros (NWO) & (kennislink)
