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Cryo-EM Core Facility Determines High-Resolution Structure of Key DNA-sensing Protein

September 11, 2020

Led by Qi Zhang, PhD, and Robert McGinty, MD, PhD, UNC-Chapel Hill scientists used cryo-electron microscopy technology to produce the first-ever high-resolution structure of the protein cGAS bound to the DNA packaging unit inside human cell nuclei, revealing how cGAS responds to foreign or damaged DNA, but not the body’s healthy DNA.