Section “Structural biology of proteins, nucleic acids and membranes”

Section “Structural biology of proteins, nucleic acids, and membranes” is devoted to modern advances in studying the three-dimensional organization and functions of biological macromolecules (DNA, RNA, proteins, lipids) and biomolecular systems—ensembles of biological macromolecules.

The key topics of the section include:

• modern experimental and computational approaches to studying the structural organization and dynamic behavior of key cellular molecular entities—macromolecules (DNA, RNA, proteins, lipids) and biomolecular systems;
• prediction of the 3D structure of biological macromolecules;
• identification and analysis of active centers and functional sites in the spatial structure of biological macromolecules and their complexes;
• fine mechanisms of allosteric regulation of protein functional activity;
• neural-network-based protein redesign (the “inverse folding” problem);
• analysis of intermolecular interaction networks;
• molecular dynamics simulations of biomolecular systems over extended time scales;
• structural analysis and molecular docking of drugs;
• computational modeling of membrane proteins and biological membranes;
• special attention is given to the growing role of machine learning and artificial intelligence methods in structural biology, which enable work with large datasets and the prediction and analysis of properties and behavior of complex biomolecular systems;
• integrative approaches combining computational and experimental methods are welcomed within the section.