Image Library - Life Sciences

A large number of new protein structures are determined each year by researchers using the powerful X-rays at the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne . Seeing the structure provides an insight to researchers that otherwise would not be possible. For instance, this structure of bacteriophage HK 97 shows that nature's chain mail provides this viral genome's interior with exceptional protection. The protein structure was determined at the BioCARS beamline, operated by the University of Chicago .

This image of a knotted protein comes from a microorganism called methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum that breaks down waste products and produces methane gas. This was the first structure of the most ancient type of single-celled organism – archaebacterium. Protein-folding theory previously held that forming a knot was beyond the ability of a protein; as technology improves, biologists are determining higher-quality images of structures. Researchers used the powerful X-rays at the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne to determine the protein's structure. Argonne National Laboratory image.

Argonne biologists Yong Zhao (left) and Eliezer Huberman found a new source of pluripotent stem cells – the versatile stem cells that can morph into any type of cells. They found a way to adapt cells found in blood to create the pluripotent cells. Common sources of these flexible stem cells such as bone marrow and embryonic cells can be hard to collect and controversial, making Argonne 's finding a possible boon to patients and researchers. Their research was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . Argonne National Laboratory photo.

Argonne biologists have identified proteins related to capillary formation that are a tumor's lifeline by studying blood-vessel-forming cells. Colleen Kuemmel, a scientific assistant in the Biosciences Division, is monitoring capillary growth of endothelial cells every four hours. Argonne National Laboratory photo.

One of the hundreds of structures determined at Argonne's Structural Biology Center, the TraR protein structure of Agrobacterium tumefaciens revealed that cells may communicate through releasing and sensing the chemical signals pheromones. Argonne National Laboratory image.

Argonne biochemist Irina Dementieva and biophysicist and crystallographer Youngchang Kim work with the first robot of its type in the nation to automate protein purification. The robot, which is housed in a refrigerator, is an integral part of the Argonne-based Midwest Structural Genomics Center 's plan to automate the protein crystallography process. These robots purify six proteins a day; it previously took two to three days per protein. Argonne National Laboratory photo.

To determine the structure of the human genome, Argonne researchers are automating processes to speed discovery and cut costs. Christina Hueneke oversees this robot, which produces 20 times as many protein clones as a traditional wet lab. Argonne National Laboratory photo.