NEW YORK STRUCTURAL BIOLOGY CENTER INC

RESEARCH CONDUCTED AT THE SIMONS ELECTRON MICROSCOPY CENTER (SEMC) IS AIMED AT DETERMINING THE STRUCTURE OF MACROMOLECULES TO HELP UNDERSTAND THEIR FUNCTION. AS OF DECEMBER 31, 2023, THE FACILITY HAD 12 TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPES, A DUAL-BEAM FOCUSED ION BEAM SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPE, AS WELL AS ANCILLARY EQUIPMENT FOR CRYOEM SAMPLE PREPARATION. IN 2023, SEMC ACTIVELY SERVED OVER 750 USERS FROM NYSBC'S NINE MEMBER INSTITUTIONS AS WELL AS USERS FROM THE NATIONAL COMMUNITY THROUGH NIH-FUNDED CENTERS (NATIONAL CENTER FOR CRYOEM ACCESS AND TRAINING AND NATIONAL CENTER FOR IN-SITU TOMOGRAPHIC ULTRAMICROSCOPY). SEMC DEVELOPS OPEN-SOURCE TECHNOLOGIES TO ACCELERATE CRYOEM WORKFLOWS FROM SAMPLE PREPARATION TO STRUCTURE DETERMINATION THROUGH ITS SIMONS FOUNDATION INITIATIVES (SIMONS RESOURCE FOR AUTOMATED MOLECULAR MICROSCOPY AND SIMONS MACHINE LEARNING CENTER). SEMC ALSO PROVIDES EXTENSIVE TRAINING TO MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY THROUGH WORKSHOPS, COURSES, AND OTHER TRAINING SESSIONS. IN SEVERAL PROJECTS, SEMC STAFF HAS BEEN INVOLVED EXTENSIVELY AS COLLABORATORS DEVELOPING NEW MACHINE LEARNING ALGORITHMS AND SOFTWARE FOR AUTOMATING CRYOEM, AND CONTRIBUTING TO SOLVING THE STRUCTURES OF: CRISPR-CAS COMPLEXES, ION CHANNELS, GPCRS, AND MANY DRUG TARGETS, E.G., AGAINST DISEASES LIKE COVID-19. OVER 200 SCIENTIFIC ARTICLES ACKNOWLEDGED SEMC SUPPORT IN 2023.

NYSBC PROVIDES ACCESS TO HIGH-FIELD NUCLEAR MAGNETIC RESONANCE (NMR) SPECTROSCOPY TO FACULTY FROM ITS NINE MEMBER INSTITUTIONS. THE NMR FACILITY INSTRUMENTATION INCLUDES NINE NMR SPECTROMETERS THAT GENERALLY OPERATE 24 HRS/DAY, 7 DAYS/WEEK. IN 2023, EACH SPECTROMETER WAS AVAILABLE, ON AVERAGE, 340 DAYS. THESE RESOURCES ALLOW RESEARCHERS TO DETERMINE THE STRUCTURE OF PROTEINS IN SOLUTION AND IN SOLID STATE ATOMIC RESOLUTION, DATA THAT PROVIDES INSIGHT INTO THE FUNCTIONAL PROPERTIES OF THE PROTEINS. IN 2023, GROUP MEMBERS FROM THE LABORATORIES OF 19 AFFILIATED PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS MADE USE OF THESE INSTRUMENTS. DATA COLLECTED WITH THESE INSTRUMENTS PRODUCED 21 PUBLICATIONS IN EMINENT SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS. THE CENTER OPERATES THE CENTER ON MOLECULAR DYNAMICS BY COMD/NMR, A BIOMEDICAL TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH RESOURCE SUPPORTED BY U.S. NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH GRANTS RM1 GM145397 AND LOCATED AT NYSBC. THE MISSION OF COMD-NMR IS TO MAKE AVAILABLE TO THE BIOLOGICAL RESEARCH COMMUNITY ADVANCED NMR SPECTROSCOPIC AND COMPUTATIONAL METHODS FOR CHARACTERIZING PROTEIN AND NUCLEIC ACID CONFORMATIONAL DYNAMICS IN BIOLOGICAL PROCESSES.