Thomaston’s XFEL analysis of the M2 channel published in PNAS
Congrats to DGL grad student Jessica Thomaston on her recent publication of an X-ray free electron laser diffraction analysis of the M2 proton channel, out this month in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The M2 proton channel of influenza A is an anti-flu drug target and a model system for the transport of protons across the membrane. Serial diffraction experiments at an X-ray Free Electron Laser (XFEL) source reveal that ordered water molecules play a role in stabilizing positive charges on the channel's gating His37 residues