Center For Structural Biology News | Center for Structural Biology

Researchers reconstructed a high-resolution 3D image of a tick-borne Powassan virus. Credit: Courtesy of the Hafenstein lab at the University of Minnesota. All Rights Reserved.

Jul 10, 2025

Structure of tick-borne virus revealed at atomic resolution for the first time

Rates of the Powassan virus infections — which can cause seizures and paralysis — are increasing across commonwealth, nation.

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Credit: Dani Zemba / Penn State. All Rights Reserved.

Jul 01, 2025

Lab Bench to Commercialization program broadens its scope

Eberly College of Science seed grant program to shift emphasis to earlier development of research, focusing on societal impact and career readiness.

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The activation of Protein Kinase A (PKA) is a critical part in how the body responds to stress and starvation. Using a variety of imaging and biochemical techniques, a team of researchers from Penn State has revealed how the metabolic cycle that activates PKA resets itself between stressful events. Credit: Varun Venkatakrishnan/Anand Lab / Penn State. Creative Commons

May 29, 2025

Resetting the fight-or-flight response

New study reveals mechanism responsible for resetting key molecular cycle involved in response to stress and starvation.

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Movement of Zika virus through a tunneling nanotube formed between two cells. An imaging technique called immunofluorescence assay shows the co-localization of viral structural proteins, the capsid protein in red and envelope protein in green, indicative of virus particles in the tunneling nanotube. Credit: Provided by the Jose Lab / Penn State. Creative Commons

Mar 17, 2025

Tunnel-building virus: How Zika transmits from mother to fetus

A team of researchers from Penn State and Baylor College of Medicine found that the Zika virus builds tiny tunnels, called tunneling nanotubes, to stealthily transport material needed to infect nearby cells, including in placental cells.

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Arati Prabhakar, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, awards Richard Alley, Evan Pugh University Professor of Geosciences at Penn State, the National Medal of Science during an awards ceremony at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, D.C., Jan. 3. Credit: Photo by Ryan K. Morris. All Rights Reserved.

Jan 08, 2025

Alley awarded National Medal of Science, highest honor US bestows on scientists

Richard Alley, Evan Pugh University Professor of Geosciences at Penn State, was awarded the National Medal of Science at a White House ceremony on Jan. 3.

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Oct 31, 2024

Huck researchers reflect on the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry

This month, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to three scientists credited with historic breakthroughs surrounding proteins and their structures. Three Huck researchers working on similar challenges chime in with their thoughts.

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Sep 11, 2024

Three projects receive Huck Innovative and Transformational Seed Fund grants

Three potentially high-impact, high-risk research projects have been selected to receive seed funding for the latest round of the Huck Innovative and Transformational Seed (HITS) Fund initiative.

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May 30, 2024

Denise Okafor named Huck Early Career Chair in Biophysics

Denise Okafor, assistant professor of biochemistry and molecular biology in the Eberly College of Science at Penn State, has been awarded a Dorothy Foehr Huck and J. Lloyd Huck Early Career Chair in Biophysics.

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Feb 06, 2024

How does Zika virus replicate and transmit from mother to fetus?

In 2015, an outbreak of Zika virus, driven by a heavy rain season and subsequent boom in the virus’s host mosquito population, caused thousands of babies in Brazil to be born with severe birth defects.

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Oct 25, 2023

Biochemist selected as Innovation Fund investigator by Pew Charitable Trusts

Katsuhiko Murakami, professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at Penn State, has been selected as a member of the 2023 class of Innovation Fund investigators by the Pew Charitable Trusts.

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