# Center for Structural Biology of HIV RNA

> **NIH NIH U54** · UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR · 2022 · $373,924

## Abstract

Core 2. Crystallography
Summary
The CRNA Crystallography Core will collaborate with CRNA investigators to solve crystal structures of RNA-
protein complexes, RNAs and proteins. A key activity of the Core is to provide expertise in molecular biology
tailored for RNAs and RNA-protein complexes, including construct design, expression testing, and development
of purification protocols, and in biophysical characterization of purified macromolecules and complexes. These
contributions in molecular biology and biophysics are not only critical to the crystallography focus of the Core,
but are also available to CRNA Projects as needed for production and characterization of proteins or RNA-protein
complexes. The Core will also provide construct designs, expression plasmids and protocols as well as purified
proteins, RNAs and RNA-protein complexes to CRNA labs. The Core lab at the University of Michigan will serve
as a repository for materials and protocols. The Core team is co-led by PIs Janet Smith (University of Michigan)
and Jinwei Zhang (NIDDK, NIH), who brings expertise in the design of RNAs and RNA-protein complexes for
crystallization. The Core team will focus on three aims. The Core will develop or adapt cutting-edge methods for
RNA designs to facilitate expression, RNA-protein co-expression, crystallization chaperones for RNA, and
establishment of an in vitro RNA synthesis capability. In support of its crystallography mission, the Core will
develop cutting-edge methods to aid RNA crystallization, to improve the diffraction quality and solve the phase
problem for RNA-containing crystals, to improve crystallographic refinement for RNA-containing structures, and
to facilitate the combination of crystallography and electron microscopy.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10505790
- **Project number:** 1U54AI170660-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR
- **Principal Investigator:** ALICE TELESNITSKY
- **Activity code:** U54 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $373,924
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-06-09 → 2027-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10505790

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10505790, Center for Structural Biology of HIV RNA (1U54AI170660-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10505790. Licensed CC0.

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