June 8, 2022
11th Erwin Felix Lewy Bertaut Prize to Dr. Lukáš Gajdos !
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April 28, 2022
COVID-19 research campaign moves from basic science to antiviral drug design
The worst of COVID-19 may have past, but new viral variants keep showing up. Developing new drugs that remain potent against the emerging variants is essential to stopping the spread of the deadly disease and protecting human health.After more than two years of studying SARS-CoV-2—the virus that c…
April 6, 2022
Exploring the protein folding chaperones at the heart of our cells
Insulin is a hormone that is rapidly secreted into the blood, following a meal, in order to control blood glucose levels. These pulses of insulin secretion enable the body to take up and store sugar and quickly return blood glucose to normal levels. Diabetes, which affects 1 in 10 people in Europe, occurs when this process goes wrong.The endoplasmic reticulum (ER), a protein-producing compartment…
March 17, 2022
A superior radionuclide for cancer treatment
Radioactive isotopes offer excellent treatments for cancers that have spread. The ILL is working with other institutions to produce and test a potentially new clinical radioisotope, terbium-161, that promises to be more effective in killing cancer cells than similar radioisotopes currently in clinical use.
Isotopes that emit short-range radiation in the form of electrons or alpha particles offer …
March 16, 2022
Understanding the lipid bilayer degradation induced by SARS-CoV-2 spike protein
Neutron reflectometry reveals SARS-CoV-2 spike protein induces lipid stripping from cell membrane, leading to a greater understanding of SARS-CoV-2 infection mechanisms and potential therapeutics.
22 July 2021Scientists at the Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL), in …
March 10, 2022
A-B-C is not as easy as 1-2-3 but assembles like clockwork
An experimental-computational approach develops a structurally stable model of the KaiABC complex and reveals a hitherto elusive mechanism in cyanobacterial circadian regulationAn international research team, including Kyoto University, ExCELLS, QST (Japan), the Institut Laue-Langevin, ILL (France…
Feb. 15, 2022
Neutron scattering techniques reveal the roles of SARS-CoV-2 fusion peptides during infection
Research has demonstrated the likely critical membrane fusion mechanism involved when the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus infects human cells.SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic, is from a family of single-stranded positive sense RNA viruses named β-coronaviruses. SARS-CoV-2 and oth…
Jan. 21, 2022
Neutrons help reveal details of the binding of a human pathogen to our cells
Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a human opportunistic pathogen that causes severe infections in immunocompromised patients. P. aeruginosa and other pathogenic bacteria use several virulence factors to promote their infectivity, including sugar-binding proteins.Teams of researchers at CERMAV (CNRS) and t…
Sept. 17, 2021
ILL and ESS bring together global neutron science community to tackle society’s biggest challenges
11th October 2018: Grenoble, France – Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL) the world’s flagship neutron facility, hosts the global neutron community in its hometown to discuss the future of neutron science in Europe and highlight cutting-edge research in the field. Neutron science is critical to Europe’s scientific impact. The ILL has enabled globally significant research in this field for over 50 years,…
Sept. 16, 2021
Catching a glimpse at enzymes on the job: a combined time-resolved neutron scattering and fluorescence study
AAA+ ATPases are a large family of ubiquitous enzymes with multiple tasks, including the remodelling of the cellular proteome, i.e. the ensemble of proteins in a biological cell. A subfamily, so-called unfoldases, recognize, unfold, and address misfolded or dysfunctional proteins towards proteolyt…
Sept. 16, 2021
Mysteries of enzyme mechanism revealed
Credit: Institut Laue-Langevin/ University of Leicester
An international research team led by the University of Leicester has made a breakthrough advance by trapping an intermediate in the mechanism of enzymes called heme peroxidases and determining its structure u…
Sept. 16, 2021
Scientists use neutrons to understand the secrets of extremophile bacteria like the ones decomposing the RMS Titanic
Credit: MPI-ILL
5.09.2016Understanding microbe adaptation to extreme environments remains a challenge of high biotechnological potential—in bioremediation and waste management, for example.Halomonas microorganisms isolated from the oceans or salt marshes, reversibl…