Structural Biology in Latvia and Beyond
Instruct-ERIC held a dedicated structural biology conference in Riga, Latvia, 3 December 2024.
The “Structural Biology in Latvia and Beyond” conference celebrated the membership of Latvia in Instruct-ERIC, since their inclusion in 2019, allowing researchers in the country to receive funded access to high-end structural biology technologies across Europe.
Opened by Prof. Kaspars Tars (Latvian Biomedical Research and Study Centre, LBMC), the symposium saw a combination of the latest research and opportunities available through Instruct, as well as the state-of-the-art structural biology work being presented by the Latvia community. Prof. Tars was presented with official certification of Latvia’s membership.
John Dolan (Instruct-ERIC Hub) and Kaspars Tars (LBMC)
The Instruct-Hub was represented by Prof. Harald Schwalbe (Instruct Director) and John Dolan (Communication and Project Manager), providing an insight into the importance and potential of integrated structural biology, and the opportunities and services available to conduct such research through Instruct-ERIC. An introduction to Instruct Centre-Finland was presented by Hanna Oksanen (University of Helsinki), the geographically-closest centre to Latvia, outlining the wide array of technologies available to access for researchers in Europe and beyond.
Left to right: Harald Schwalbe (Instruct-ERIC Director), John Dolan, Hanna Oksanen (University of Helsinki)
Several talks from local speakers then demonstrated the wealth of expertise in the Instruct structural biology community. The first came from Giedrius Sasnauskas of Lithuania (Vilnius University), who presented their work on Cas12 family nucleases. This presentation was also given at the latest Structure Meets Function Webinar, watch the recording here.
From the LBMC, Jānis Rūmnieks presented their cryo-EM results studying DNA bacteriophages, before Gints Kalnins summarised their work on SARS-CoV-2, focusing on substrate-based inhibitors. Gints is a former Instruct intern, and has also presented their work at the Instruct Biennial Structural Biology Conference 2024 in Portugal, find the recording of that talk here.
Giedrius Sasnauskas (Vilnius University), Jānis Rūmnieks (LBMC), and Gints Kalnins (LBMC)
Alons Lends and Teodors Panteļejevs of the Latvian Institute of Organic Science (LIOS) presented their research using NMR spectroscopy and molecular stapling respectively, sandwiching Kalvis Brangulis who neatly illustrated the structure of Borrelia burgdorferi outer surface proteins.
Teodors Panteļejevs (LIOS), Kalvis Brangulis (LBMC), and Alons Lends (LIOS)
The conference was rounded off with two fantastic talks, from Rebeka Ludviga of LBMC and Shapla Bhattacharaya of LIOS, presented cryo-EM studies of potato virus, and enzyme design and engineering for plastic degradation, respectively.
Kaspars Tars, Rebeka Ludviga (LBMC), and Shapla Bhattacharaya (LIOS)
The superb diversity and excellence on display throughout the talks from the local groups demonstrated the quality of structural biology research being conducted in Latvia. We would like to thank the local organisers for putting together a successful event, and look forward to more events in the future, as well as putting to increased use the excellence and experience of the Latvian structural biology community as it continues to collaborate and work alongside structural biology experts in the European Instruct domain and beyond.