Name: Czech Infrastructure for Integrative Structural Biology
Institution: Masaryk University
Coordinator:Assoc. Prof Pavel Plevka, pavel.plevka@ceitec.muni.cz
Website
CIISB is operated through CEITEC (Central European Institute of Technology) and BIOCEV (Biotechnology and Biomedicine Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences and Charles University in Vestec). It provides expertise and access to technologies for integrative structural analyses of cells and their biologically important macromolecular components with atomic-level resolution. CIISB consists of a total of 10 core facilities and central laboratories of national and international importance. CIISB provides expertise and access to state-of-the-art technologies for the preparation of samples, determination of their spatial structure and characterisation of their dynamics over a time scale ranging from 10-9 to 103 s. Excellent CIISB technologies used for NMR spectroscopy, cryo-electron microscopy and tomography, X-ray diffraction and Bio-SAXS measurements, nanobiotechnologies, the biophysical characterisation of bio(macro)molecules and mass spectrometry are at a level of quality that compares favourably with large European RIs. The combination of modern high-end equipment and scientific expertise, unrivalled at the national level, enables the acquisition and interpretation of data obtained from instruments covering more than 20 key technologies and the development of new methodologies. CIISB facilitates the dissemination of knowledge and stimulates collaboration between centres of fundamental and applied research. At the European level, CIISB stands out due to its top-class equipment for cryo-electron microscopy and tomography, high-field NMR spectroscopy and high-resolution structural mass spectrometry.
CIISB is the Czech national node to Instruct-ERIC (Integrated Structural Biology European Research Infrastructure Consortium), of which the Czech Republic is a founding Member State. CIISB serves domestic, European and overseas users and thus represents not only a principal basis of national biomedical and biotechnological research, but also provides key services to the international research community.
