March 2025 Newsletter

March 31, 2025

News you can use

FragFold, developed by MIT Biology researchers, is a computational method with potential for impact on biological research and therapeutic applications.

Department of Biology researchers developed a computational method, FragFold, to systematically predict which protein fragments may inhibit a target protein’s function. The image shows an example of one of the interactions the researchers explored: a protein complex between lipopolysaccharide transport proteins LptF (white) and LptG (green). The protein fragment of LptG (red) inhibits this interaction, disrupting the delivery of lipopolysaccharide, a crucial component of the E. coli outer cell membrane essential for cellular fitness.

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Employee spotlight

Jungki Min, Ph.D. - Sr. Scientist II

Jungki is a seasoned scientist with expertise in biochemistry, biophysics, and structural biology. His unwavering passion lies in unraveling the intricacies of atomic-level details through X-ray crystallography and Cryo-EM. Over decades, he has amassed a wealth of knowledge across academia, government, and industry, delving into diverse biological processes and mechanisms.

Featured services

Biophysical Characterization Service -

Biophysical characterization plays an essential role in drug discovery R&D. Helix offers biophysical characterization services using key instruments that cover all your research and project needs.

We are excited to provide our customers with various biophysical characterization services (ITC, SPR: T200 & 8K, BLI, MST, DLS, TSA, CD, LC/MS, SEC-MALS, Mass Photometry, and more) at affordable prices, with accurate data and fast turnaround time.

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Helix is hiring!!

Head of Protein Sciences: We are looking to add an experienced Protein Sciences Leader to our Indianapolis-based team. This role will manage and support the Helix team, planning & tracking all projects to produce high-quality work and support our client’s protein production, biophysical characterization, and structural biology projects.

Head of Structural Biology: We are looking to add an experienced Structural Biology Leader to our Indianapolis-based team. This role will manage and support the Helix team, planning & tracking all projects to produce high-quality work and support our client’s protein production, biophysical characterization, and structural biology projects.

Senior Scientist - Gene-to-Structure: We are looking to add an experienced senior scientist to join our Indianapolis-based team. This senior-level scientist will support our protein production and structural biology pipelines by producing proteins and setting up crystallization and/or cryo-EM experiments, interfacing with our clients, and writing technical project reports.

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HELIX HIGHLIGHTS

Helix Biostructures GPCR Seminar in March

The Helix team had a GPCR seminar this month. Yu-Chen Yen, Ph.D. (Scientist II) gave a presentation to the team about GPCRs and her and Chun's work on an internal GPCR project (Helix paid project). The team had an opportunity to learn more about GPCR protein production and her project.

Revolution Medicines (RevMed) acknowledged Helix on their reccent publication

Congratulations to the Revolution Medicines team on their impactful publication in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry detailing the discovery of daraxonrasib (RMC-6236), a potent and orally bioavailable RAS(ON) multi-selective, noncovalent tri-complex inhibitor! This groundbreaking molecule targets multiple RAS-driven cancers, addressing a significant unmet medical need.

Helix is honored to have contributed to the X-ray crystallographic data collection that supported the structural insights crucial for this discovery. Collaborating with amazing customers like RevMed and aiding in cutting-edge research is our passion. Thank you for letting us be a part of this amazing project and we can't wait to see what else you have in store for the world.

Congrats again to the entire RevMed team! Amazing work, everyone!!!!

Read more here: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jmedchem.4c02314

Instrument review

The Thermo Scientific Vitrobot Mark IV System offers semi-automated vitrification to provide fast, easy, and reproducible sample preparation for cryo-EM. It performs the cryo-fixation process at constant physical and mechanical conditions like temperature, relative humidity, blotting conditions, and freezing velocity. This ensures high-quality cryo-fixation results and a high sample preparation throughput prior to cryo-TEM observation.

We are equipped with a Vitrobot Mark IV System in-house and can prepare grids without freezing protein samples. This will allow us to produce the highest quality cryo-EM data and images to define protein structures for our customers. Contact us today to discuss how we can help you with your cryo-EM projects.