Macromolecular structure determination

Created March 4, 2026

Updated on March 12, 2026

approved

This service provides end-to-end support for macromolecular structure determination, delivering experimentally validated three-dimensional structures of proteins and protein complexes ready for public deposition. The service includes construct design and optimisation, biochemical and biophysical sample preparation, quality control, and optimisation for structural studies. Structure determination workflows are based on X-ray crystallography and Cryo-electron microscopy (Cryo-EM) and include coordination of data collection, data processing, model building, refinement, and validation. Where appropriate, experimental data collection is carried out in collaboration with national and European partner facilities. The final outcome of the service is a fully validated macromolecular structure, suitable for deposition in public structural databases and for use in downstream functional, mechanistic, or translational studies. The service is offered to academic and industrial users within the IBISBA and ITINERIS frameworks.

Tags:

Item URL

https://data.d4science.org/ctlg/ITINERIS-HUB/macromolecular_structure_determination

Basic

Abbreviation

MacroStruct

Research Infrastructure

IBISBA

Resource Providers

CNR-IBBA
https://ror.org/01ar90c17

Webpage

https://ibisba.it/ibba/

Marketing

Description

This service enables researchers and innovators to obtain experimentally determined three-dimensional structures of biological macromolecules, such as proteins and protein complexes, ready for public deposition and downstream use. It provides an integrated pathway from prepared biological samples to a validated structural model, coordinating all steps required for structure determination using established structural biology methods, including X-ray crystallography and Cryo-electron microscopy. For users, the service removes many of the technical and organisational barriers that typically slow down or prevent successful structure determination. By centralising expertise in sample optimisation, data processing, model building, and validation, the service reduces the risk of failed experiments, shortens time to results, and ensures that the final structural models meet community standards for quality and reproducibility. This allows users to focus on scientific interpretation, hypothesis testing, and application of the structure rather than on managing complex technical workflows. The service is used by academic researchers, research institutes, and industrial partners working in areas such as molecular biology, biotechnology, drug discovery, and protein engineering. It is particularly valuable for users who need reliable structural information to support publications, database deposition, functional studies, or translational research, but who do not have direct access to the full range of structural biology expertise or infrastructure.

Logo

https://ibisba.it/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/IBISBA-IT-768x432.png

Classification

Access Types

Virtual
Remote
Physical

Access mode

Peer Reviewed