Review Papers in 'Biomolecular Crystals'

A topical collection in Crystals (ISSN 2073-4352). This collection belongs to the section "Biomolecular Crystals".

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Editor

Instituto de Química, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City 04510, Mexico
Interests: protein crystals; biocrystals; crystal growth; protein crystallography; crystal chemistry; biomineralization; biomimetics; biological macromolecules
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Topical Collection Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are currently facing one of the most incredible events in the history of humanity. The evolution of one microorganism, a virus called SARS-CoV-2, has not only challenged health policies and global economy, but also science. However, science has risen to the occasion. Thanks to the knowledge available and to the scientific resources, the crystalline structure of the capsid proteins and the genetic information (DNA/RNA) of the virus were very rapidly obtained (in just a few months), enabling scientists to develop several types of vaccines. Modern technologies like the use of synchrotron facilities displayed the effectiveness of crystallographic methods to make these investigations true and expedite them as a worldwide health issue. Some countries with the strongest gross product, among others, invested a great deal of money in these structural investigations. The development of vaccines in coordination with pharmaceutical companies showed the plausible cooperation in basic science approaches (developed at universities or research centers). Additionally, applied science (performed by different pharmaceuticals and clinical assays) worked in tandem. The research centers of many universities focused their efforts on investigating the behavior of these kinds of viruses and their variants in detail. This is just to mention one of the most representative examples of the use of biomolecular crystals. The main objective was to investigate the biological and chemical mechanisms based on the three-dimensional structure of different types of biological macromolecules, not forgetting that these crystals also have a wide variety of scientific applications. This Topical Collection aims to collect review papers of top scientific leaders that have used biomolecular crystals for their investigations in chemistry, biology, physics, materials science and medicine. However, I would like to point out that biomolecular crystals can also be applied to archeology, paleontology (as biomineralization processes) and other human diseases.

We would like to launch a collection to collect comprehensive review articles from well-recognized scholars and open to others prestigious scientists that would like to contribute manuscripts sponsored by their institutions of affiliations. I hope you will be inspired to contribute to this Topical Collection. There is a great chance to make this Topical Collection a highly cited collection of review papers, where the use of biomolecular crystals will help the scientific community to improve their research based on biological structural investigations.

Prof. Dr. Abel Moreno
Collection Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the collection website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Crystals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • protein crystals and applications
  • DNA/RNA crystallographic research for biomedical research
  • polysaccharide crystallization and 3D structure via different approaches
  • structural investigations of macromolecular complexes: protein–DNA, protein–RNA
  • peptide crystallization and its applications

Published Papers (2 papers)

2023

Jump to: 2022

16 pages, 2517 KiB  
Perspective
A Short and Practical Overview on Light-Sensing Proteins, Optogenetics, and Fluorescent Biomolecules inside Biomorphs Used as Optical Sensors
by Ulises Galindo-García, María Vanegas-Reza, Roberto Arreguín-Espinosa, Karina Sandra Pérez, Ricardo Pérez-Solis, María Eugenia Mendoza, Karla Yadira Cervantes-Quintero, Selene R. Islas, Mayra Cuéllar-Cruz and Abel Moreno
Crystals 2023, 13(9), 1343; https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst13091343 - 03 Sep 2023
Viewed by 989
Abstract
In this contribution, we describe a brief overview of the role of different light-signaling proteins in different biochemical processes (mostly in plants) along the electromagnetic spectrum. We also revise, in terms of perspectives, the applications of all these proteins to optogenetics as a [...] Read more.
In this contribution, we describe a brief overview of the role of different light-signaling proteins in different biochemical processes (mostly in plants) along the electromagnetic spectrum. We also revise, in terms of perspectives, the applications of all these proteins to optogenetics as a new emerging field of research. In the second part, we present some case studies: First, we used two fluorescent proteins showing an optical response in the green- and red-light wavelengths both isolated from marines’ organisms, which were incorporated as light sensors into the silico-carbonate of Ca, Ba, and Sr (usually called biomorphs). The second case study consisted in incorporating phototropins from a plant (Arabidopsis thaliana) into the synthesis of biomorphs. Finally, the last part analyses the influence of these three proteins on the shape and structure in the synthesis of silico-carbonates of calcium, barium, and strontium as optical sensors, in order to detect the location of these biomolecules inside these self-assembly crystalline materials called biomorphs. Full article
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2022

Jump to: 2023

12 pages, 2416 KiB  
Review
Structural Changes as a Tool for Affinity Recognition: Conformational Switch Biosensing
by Viviana Scognamiglio and Amina Antonacci
Crystals 2022, 12(9), 1209; https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst12091209 - 27 Aug 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1198
Abstract
Biosensors draw inspiration from natural chemosensing based on molecular switches between different bond-induced conformational states. Proteins and nucleic acids can be adapted into switch-based biosensors with a wide plethora of different configurations, taking advantage of the variety of transduction systems, from optical to [...] Read more.
Biosensors draw inspiration from natural chemosensing based on molecular switches between different bond-induced conformational states. Proteins and nucleic acids can be adapted into switch-based biosensors with a wide plethora of different configurations, taking advantage of the variety of transduction systems, from optical to electrochemical or electrochemiluminescence, as well as from nanomaterials for signal augmentation. This review reports the latest trends in conformational switch biosensors reported in the literature in the last 10 years, focusing on the main representative and recent examples of protein-based switching biosensors, DNA nanomachines, and structure-switched aptamers being applied for the detection of a wide range of target analytes with interest in biomedical and agro-environmental sectors. Full article
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Figure 1

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