Structural Biology, Biotechnology and Virusology

Historically, biotechnology is one of BMC’s most advanced fields, which has been significantly supplemented with structural biology over the past decade. The two directions are closely related, as biotechnologically produced proteins are used to determine structures, while the obtained structures often indicate the possibility of creating new biotechnological products. Vaccines against various human diseases, including parkinsonism, Alzheimer’s disease, influenza and Lyme disease, as well as various veterinary diseases – atopic dermatitis, allergies and chronic pain – are being developed in the groups of K. Tars, A. Kazaks and A. Zeltins with the help of virus-like particle technology. Some of the veterinary vaccines, developed in collaboration with Swiss researchers, are already in the process of being transferred to technology and could soon be introduced into production. In structural biology, much attention is paid to the study of single-stranded RNA bacteriophage proteins, especially in the elucidation and rational modification of the structures of their viral particles for the design of new vaccines. Other directions in structural biology focus on the rational design of new drugs against a variety of target proteins, including carbonic anhydrases and trimethylamine-producing bacterial enzymes. The structural study of the surface proteins of the bacterium that causes Lyme disease, Borrelia burgdorferi, in combination with the study of RNA phage virus-like particles, has led to the development of several vaccine candidates that have been shown to be effective in animal models