Aim of this initiative called iNEXT, is to determine new structures and functions of proteins and their complexes, by giving researchers integrated access to structural biology technologies such as NMR, electron microscopy and X-ray technologies. The project contributes to European goals for Health and Green Economy, as fundamental knowledge of biological processes is important, for example, for the development of novel drugs and safe and sustainable food production methods.
Groundbreaking research
iNEXT will provide access to the most advanced facilities for structural biology in Europe. The collaborating facilities include advanced X-ray synchrotron sources in Grenoble, Hamburg, Oxford, Lund and Paris, high-field NMR facilities in Utrecht, Frankfurt, Florence, Brno, Lyon and Grenoble, imaging facilities in Oxford, Brno, Heidelberg, Leiden and Madrid and advanced biophysical characterization in Amsterdam. Together, these facilities will make it possible for European scientists to perform ground breaking protein research with technologies to which they otherwise would not have had access.
Starting September 2015
iNEXT (www.inext-eu.org) is coordinated from the Netherlands by prof. Rolf Boelens (Utrecht University) with dr. Anastassis Perrakis (Netherlands Cancer Institute) as deputy coordinator . The program is setup in coordination with the European ESFRI projects Instruct, ESS, EU-OPENSCREEN and Euro-BioImaging. Researchers across Europe will be able to apply for access to the advanced facilities of iNEXT through a peer-review process. Starting September 1, 2015, the facilities will be available and proposals for access can be submitted.
CEITEC participation
CEITEC will provide access to high field NMR instruments located in the Josef Dadok National NMR Centre and to high-end cryo-electron microscopy and tomography equipment dedicated to structural biology studies. Services will include biomacromolecular 3D structure determination and further functional characterization, studies of cellular structures and organelles, protein complexes, and various phenomena at the currently most advanced level.
