VirusMED Database Offered to Speed Development of Antiviral Drugs and Vaccines

The virusMED server is at https://virusmed.biocloud.top/

The following news outlets have reported on virusMED, our newest tool for viral researchers.

--References publication:  virusMED: an atlas of hotspots of viral proteins..  Zhang H, Chen P, Ma H, Woińska M, Liu D, Cooper DR, Peng G, Peng Y, Deng L, Minor W, Zheng H.  IUCrJ   [Pub Med ID: 34614039]   [Pub Med Central ID: PMC8479994]
[DOI:10.1107/S2052252521009076]


Celebrating Wladek's Career

The structural biology community helped celebrate Wladek's 75th by publishing retrospectives of his career or dedicating their most recent publications in his honor.
  • Celebrating the 75th birthday of Professor Wladek Minor, one of the most accomplished Polish-American structural biologists.  Mariusz Jaskolski, Alexander Wlodawer, Zbigniew Dauter, Ivan G. Shabalin and Maksymilian Chruszcz.    DOI: 10.18388/abp.2020_5539
    Acta Biochim Pol. 2021 Jan 21;68(1):1-4.
  • Crystal structure of Z-DNA in complex with the polyamine putrescine and potassium cations at ultra-high resolution.  Pawel Drozdzal, Miroslaw Gilski and Mariusz Jaskolski.    DOI: 10.1107/S2052520621002663
    Acta Cryst. (2021). B77, 331-338
  • Crystallographic models of SARS-CoV-2 3CLpro:in-depth assessment of structure qualityand validation.  Mariusz Jaskolski, Zbigniew Dauter, Ivan G. Shabalin, Miroslaw Gilski, Dariusz Brzezinski, Marcin Kowiel, Bernhard Rupp, AlexanderWlodawer.    DOI: 10.1107/S2052252521001159
    IUCrJ Volume 8 Pages 238-256
  • Serendipitous crystallization of E. coli HPII catalase, a sequel to “the tale usually not told”.  Marta Grzechowiak, Bartosz Sekula, Mariusz Jaskolski and Milosz Ruszkowski.    DOI: 10.18388/abp.2020_5501
    Acta Biochim Pol. 68(1):29-31.
  • Structural studies of human muscle FBPase.  Jakub Barciszewski, Kamil Szpotkowski, Janusz Wiśniewski, Robert Kołodziejczyk, Dariusz Rakus, Mariusz Jaskolski and Andrzej Dzugaj.    DOI: 10.18388/abp.2020_5554
    Acta Biochim Pol. 2021 Jan 27;68(1):5-14.
  • Structural genomics and the Protein Data Bank.  Karolina Michalska and Andrzej Joachimiak.    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbc.2021.100747
    J Biol Chem. Jan-Jun 2021;296:100747.
  • Happy Birthday, Wladek!. http://www.chem.uw.edu.pl/blog/2021/04/23/happy-birthday-wladek
    Wydział Chemii Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego. 

Scientists urge swift action to prepare for next pandemic

The following news outlets have reported on our proposed strategy to fight future pandemics.

--References publication:  Rapid response to emerging biomedical challenges and threats..  Grabowski M, Macnar JM, Cymborowski M, Cooper DR, Shabalin IG, Gilski M, Brzezinski D, Kowiel M, Dauter Z, Rupp B, Wlodawer A, Jaskolski M, Minor W.  IUCrJ   8:395-407   [Pub Med ID: 33953926]   [Pub Med Central ID: PMC8086160]
[DOI:10.1107/S2052252521003018]


The Tadeusz Sendzimir Applied Sciences Award

The Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America has awarded Wladek Minor and Dr. Zbyszek Otwinowski (Professor of Biochemistry, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas) the prestigious Tadeusz Sendzimir Applied Sciences Award.

COVID-19: DEXAMETHASONE DISCOVERY CARRIES TREATMENT IMPLICATIONS

--References publication:  Molecular determinants of vascular transport of dexamethasone in COVID-19 therapy..  Shabalin IG, Czub MP, Majorek KA, Brzezinski D, Grabowski M, Cooper DR, Panasiuk M, Chruszcz M, Minor W.  IUCrJ   [Pub Med ID: 33063792]   [Pub Med Central ID: PMC7553145]
[DOI:10.1107/S2052252520012944]

--References structures:  6XK0

COVID-19 Structure Analysis Tool

As part of an international collaboration, the lab has created a tool allowing scientists to quickly see the progress of the structural biology community pertaining to SARS-CoV-2, the COVID-19 virus.

--References publication:  Covid-19.bioreproducibility.org: A web resource for SARS-CoV-2-related structural models..  Brzezinski D, Kowiel M, Cooper DR, Cymborowski M, Grabowski M, Wlodawer A, Dauter Z, Shabalin IG, Gilski M, Rupp B, Jaskolski M, Minor W.  Protein Sci   30:115-124   [Pub Med ID: 32981130]   [Pub Med Central ID: PMC7537053]
[DOI:10.1002/pro.3959]

--References publication:  Ligand-centered assessment of SARS-CoV-2 drug target models in the Protein Data Bank..  Wlodawer A, Dauter Z, Shabalin IG, Gilski M, Brzezinski D, Kowiel M, Minor W, Rupp B, Jaskolski M.  FEBS J   287:3703-3718   [Pub Med ID: 32418327]   [Pub Med Central ID: PMC7276724]
[DOI:10.1111/febs.15366]


Wladek Minor interviewed at UNIVPM BigDat2020

At Università Politecnica delle Marche

Albumin / Testosterone Discovery

Our recent structures reveal that testosterone binds to serum albumin in two unpredicted spots. Some other drugs and hormones, including some involved in diabetes, utilize these same sites.

--References publication:  Testosterone meets albumin - the molecular mechanism of sex hormone transport by serum albumins..  Czub MP, Venkataramany BS, Majorek KA, Handing KB, Porebski PJ, Beeram SR, Suh K, Woolfork AG, Hage DS, Shabalin IG, Minor W.  Chem Sci   10:1607-1618   [Pub Med ID: 30842823]   [Pub Med Central ID: PMC6371759]
[DOI:10.1039/c8sc04397c]

--References structures:  6MDQ

Wladek Minor Elected AAAS Fellow

The American Association for the Advancement of Science has elected Dr. Minor to the rank of Fellow for his "distinguished contributions in structural biology."

University of Warsaw - American Friends of UW joint award given to Wladek Minor

The American Friends of the University of Warsaw presented Dr. Minor with the award on November 30 at the residence of the Polish Ambassador in Washington.

Wladek Minor Elected American Crystallographic Association Fellow

Raw experimental data for 3D structures highlighted at PDBe

The PDBe now has a "Experimental raw data" widget on structure pages to provide a direct link to raw diffraction data stored at the IIRMC (ProteinDiffraction.org).

A New Guide for Explorers of the Submicroscopic World Inside Us

--References publication:  Characterizing metal-binding sites in proteins with X-ray crystallography..  Handing KB, Niedzialkowska E, Shabalin IG, Kuhn ML, Zheng H, Minor W.  Nat Protoc   13:1062-1090   [Pub Med ID: 29674755]   [Pub Med Central ID: PMC6235626]
[DOI:10.1038/nprot.2018.018]


Wladek Minor Polish Radio Interview

Broadcast in multiple places in Poland (in Polish)

New Distinguished Research Service Award for Lab Alumni Maks Chruszcz

Must Life be Carbon-Based?

A public database of macromolecular diffraction experiments

--References publication:  A public database of macromolecular diffraction experiments..  Grabowski M, Langner KM, Cymborowski M, Porebski PJ, Sroka P, Zheng H, Cooper DR, Zimmerman MD, Elsliger MA, Burley SK, Minor W.  Acta Crystallogr D Struct Biol   72:1181-1193   [Pub Med ID: 27841751]   [Pub Med Central ID: PMC5108346]
[DOI:10.1107/S2059798316014716]


Here's how your body transports zinc to protect your health

--References publication:  Circulatory zinc transport is controlled by distinct interdomain sites on mammalian albumins..  Handing KB, Shabalin IG, Kassaar O, Khazaipoul S, Blindauer CA, Stewart AJ, Chruszcz M, Minor W.  Chem Sci   7:6635-6648   [Pub Med ID: 28567254]   [Pub Med Central ID: PMC5450522]
[DOI:10.1039/c6sc02267g]

--References structures:  5IJE , 5IIU , 5IJ5 , 5IIX , 5IJF , 5IIH , 5HOZ

A Heart-Shaped Protein

Big DATA en Biomedicina. Wladek Minor: el cerebro estratégico

NPR Interview with Wladek Minor

by Sandy Hausman. Dec 21, 2015

Is the Precision Medicine Initiative really necessary?

HKL3000 Workshop in Shanghai

Rescuing vast amounts of scientific knowledge

About ProteinDiffraction.org: The Integrated Resource for Reproducibility in Macromolecular Crystallography

Fertilization Discovery: Do Sperm Carry Tiny Harpoons?

--References publication:  Sperm Lysozyme-Like Protein 1 (SLLP1), an intra-acrosomal oolemmal-binding sperm protein, reveals filamentous organization in protein crystal form..  Zheng H, Mandal A, Shumilin IA, Chordia MD, Panneerdoss S, Herr JC, Minor W.  Andrology   3:756-71   [Pub Med ID: 26198801]   [Pub Med Central ID: PMC5040164]
[DOI:10.1111/andr.12057]

--References structures:  4YF2

HKL Suite Paper 23rd most cited scientific paper

The paper describing the HKL suite is #23 on the list of the 100 most cited scientific papers of all-time (#7 among papers published in the last 20 years). Published in Nature, Vol 514:550-3. October

--References publication:  Processing of X-ray diffraction data collected in oscillation mode..  Otwinowski Z, Minor W.  Methods Enzymol   276:307-26   [Pub Med ID: 27754618] [DOI:10.1016/S0076-6879(97)76066-X]


Protein Science Video Highlight of "Double Trouble"

--References publication:  Double trouble-Buffer selection and His-tag presence may be responsible for nonreproducibility of biomedical experiments..  Majorek KA, Kuhn ML, Chruszcz M, Anderson WF, Minor W.  Protein Sci   23:1359-68   [Pub Med ID: 25044180]   [Pub Med Central ID: PMC4286991]
[DOI:10.1002/pro.2520]


NIAID Structure of the Month

--References publication:  Structural, functional, and inhibition studies of a Gcn5-related N-acetyltransferase (GNAT) superfamily protein PA4794: a new C-terminal lysine protein acetyltransferase from pseudomonas aeruginosa..  Majorek KA, Kuhn ML, Chruszcz M, Anderson WF, Minor W.  J. Biol. Chem.   288:30223-35   [Pub Med ID: 24003232]   [Pub Med Central ID: PMC3798489]
[DOI:10.1074/jbc.M113.501353]

--References structures:  5VDB , 5VD6 , 3PGP , 3KKW

Argonne National Lab Feature Story

--References publication:  Structural, functional, and inhibition studies of a Gcn5-related N-acetyltransferase (GNAT) superfamily protein PA4794: a new C-terminal lysine protein acetyltransferase from pseudomonas aeruginosa..  Majorek KA, Kuhn ML, Chruszcz M, Anderson WF, Minor W.  J. Biol. Chem.   288:30223-35   [Pub Med ID: 24003232]   [Pub Med Central ID: PMC3798489]
[DOI:10.1074/jbc.M113.501353]

--References structures:  6EDD , 5VDB , 5VD6 , 5JQ4 , 5JPH , 4OAD , 4OAE , 4M3S , 4L8A , 4L89 , 4KOX , 4KOT , 4KOS , 4KOU , 4KOW , 4KUB , 4KOR , 4KOY , 4KOV , 4KUA , 4KLV , 4KLW , 4JXR , 4JXQ

Lab Highlight in Crystallography Times

October 2013
  • Wladek Minor Lab.   

Identifying Protein Functions

--References publication:  Identification of unknown protein function using metabolite cocktail screening..  Shumilin IA, Cymborowski M, Chertihin O, Jha KN, Herr JC, Lesley SA, Joachimiak A, Minor W.  Structure   20:1715-25   [Pub Med ID: 22940582]   [Pub Med Central ID: PMC3472112]
[DOI:10.1016/j.str.2012.07.016]


Highlighted in FEBS Journal

--References publication:  Protein crystallography for non-crystallographers, or how to get the best (but not more) from published macromolecular structures..  Wlodawer A, Minor W, Dauter Z, Jaskolski M.  FEBS J   275:1-21   [Pub Med ID: 18034855]   [Pub Med Central ID: PMC4465431]
[DOI:10.1111/j.1742-4658.2007.06178.x]


Czarny obraz polskiej nauki

(The Dark Side of Polish Science)

Peanut Allergy Breakthrough

--References publication:  Structural and immunologic characterization of Ara h 1, a major peanut allergen..  Chruszcz M, Maleki SJ, Majorek KA, Demas M, Bublin M, Solberg R, Hurlburt BK, Ruan S, Mattison CP, Mattisohn CP, Breiteneder H, Minor W.  J. Biol. Chem.   286:39318-27   [Pub Med ID: 21917921]   [Pub Med Central ID: PMC3234756]
[DOI:10.1074/jbc.M111.270132]


Godfathers of Polish bioinformatics mafia

broadcast from Channel 1 - Polish Radio November 19, 2011

Wladek Minor made Honorary Professor at Liverpool

October 2009

U.Va. Researchers Determine the 3-D Structure of Anthrax Protein

--References structures:  3SLF , 3SLB , 3N0S , 3N0M , 3KZL , 3IJW , 3E4F

Crystallography Times Highlight

MCSG reaches 1000 protein structures

July 17, 2009

Inventor of the Year Award

Interview on Polish radio

Rzeczpospolita.pl article

The Success of Polish Scientists working in the USA

Argonne Researchers Contribute 1000th Structure to Protein Data Bank

Everybody knows Wladek

Liquid Handling for Crystallography

#2 most cited paper in the past decade