News

 
October, 2025

Research stage

One of our team members, Blanka, recently visited Diamond Light Source’s eBIC (Electron Bio-Imaging Centre) to carry out cryo-electron microscopy screening. Single particle analysis screening of the DprE1–E2 complex was performed to identify high-quality grids and optimal experimental conditions for future data collection.
The visit benefited from eBIC’s advanced facilities and expert support, providing a strong foundation for the next phase of the project.
September, 2025

Conference

Csongor Mátyás attended the 31th International Conference on Chemistry, which took place in Sibiu (Romania) between October 23-25, 2025. Csongor presented his lecture entitled "Construction of the M. tuberculosis DprE1–DprE2 protein complex and its structure-based pharmacophore modeling".
Conference webpage: ojs.emt.ro/chem
September, 2025

Media coverage: exciting news about us

Primul laborator de cristalizare a proteinelor din România, funcțional la Universitatea Babeș-Bolyai
Premieră națională: Primul laborator de cristalizare a proteinelor din România, inaugurat la UBB Cluj

September, 2025

Conference – ProtStab 2025

We had the pleasure of attending the 14th International Conference on Protein Stabilization 2025 in Timișoara! Congratulation to Csaba Csaba (László Csaba Bencze) and Raluca (Raluca-Bianca Tomoiagă) for oral presentations, and Blanka (Blanka-Eszter Nagy), Csongi (Csongor Mátyás), Krisztina (Krisztina Kelemen) and Naomi (Naomi Bondilă) for their poster presentations.
Conference webpage: protstab2025.upt.ro

September, 2025

First crystals of the DprE1/DprE2 complex have been fished out

The BacProBio research team received training from expert Ibolya Leveles from the Protein Crystallization Laboratory of the Budapest University of Technology and Economics, as well as from the project director, Dr. Jurgen Brem.
The first protein crystals grown in the new laboratory have already been sent for analysis in collaboration with the University of Oxford, Diamond Light Source. The obtained structures will serve as a major step in characterizing essential protein-protein interactions in bacteria, ultimately paving the way for the development of new antibiotics.
July, 2025

Conference - BIOTRANS 2025

Krisztina and Raluca attended the 17th International Symposium on Biocatalysis and Biotransformations which took place in Basel, Switzerland, from June 29 to July 3:
Raluca Bianca Tomoiagă, Gyopárka Ágoston, László Csaba Bencze
Synthesis of L-phenylalanine analogues: engineering and exploring bacterial aromatic ammonia-lyases
Krisztina Boros, Raluca Bianca Tomoiagă, Lilla Gal, Anca Anghel, Jörg Pietruszka, László Csaba Bencze
Multi-enzymatic biosynthetic route to D-phenylalanines

June, 2025

Conference on Drug Development and Structural Biology

As part of the BACPROBIO project we hosted a scientific conference on 3rd of June featuring three outstanding lectures:
• Dr. Jürgen Brem (Lead Pharma, Oss, Netherlands; Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca) - Development of beta-lactamase inhibitors.
• Prof. Dr. Beáta Vértessy (Institute of Molecular Life Sciences – Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Budapest; Budapest University of Technology and Economics) – DNA repair pathway targets for anticancer drug development.
• Dr. Gergely Nagy (Budapest University of Technology and Economics) – Structural biology and biocatalysis research advances at Oxford University and BME ABET.
Thank you to our distinguished speakers – we look forward to future collaborations in the field of protein crystallization!
April, 2025

Scientific paper

After great efforts, our review paper on the protein engineering aspects of biocatalytic asymmetric synthesis of D-phenylalanines has been finalized!
Congratulations to Csaba (László Csaba Bencze) for conceiving the project, and to Raluca (Raluca Tomoiagă), Csaba (Levente Csaba Nagy), Mada (Mădălina Elena Moisa), and Krisztina (Krisztina Boros) for their outstanding contributions!
doi.org/10.1021/acscatal.5c00837
February, 2025

Laboratory inauguration

Our protein crystallization facilities, including a Mosquito X-Tal3 (SPT-Labtech), have been established in the same lab as the NanoITC. The immobilization lab has just received two exciting new additions: a benchtop NMR spectrometer (Oxford Instruments) and an ultracentrifuge!
December, 2024

Conference on ING Protein Family and Drug Discovery

On December 10, 2024, Dr. Jhon Alexander Rodriguez Buitrago from the Karolinska Institute and Umeå University, Sweden, delivered a conference titled “Exploring the ING Protein Family: From Structural Insights to Drug Discovery Perspectives.” His talk highlighted advanced techniques including X-ray crystallography, cryo-electron microscopy (Cryo-EM), and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy.
Thank you, Jhon-Alex - we look forward to future collaborations!
September, 2024

Welcome Aishwarya!

We are excited to welcome Aishwarya, a talented postdoc from India, to our research center!
She will be working on enzyme immobilization, bringing valuable expertise and fresh perspectives to our team. We look forward to learning from Aish’s research experience, as well as the new cultural insights she can share with us.
July, 2024

Scientific Event – European Congress on Biotechnology

One of our PhD student Krisztina and an MSc student Blanka attended the joint conference of the European Congress on Biotechnology (ECB 2024) organized by the European Federation of Biotechnology, held in Rotterdam, the Netherlands from June 30th to July 3rd. Our students presented their research through scientific posters:
- BOROS K., GAL L., TOMOIAGĂ R.-B., ANGHEL A., PIETRUSZKA J., BENCZE L.-Cs. – Multi-enzymatic approaches involving engineered D-amino acid dehydrogenases for the stereoselective synthesis of D-phenylalanines
- NAGY B.-E., BOROS K., TOMOIAGĂ R.-B., TŐTŐS R., TOȘA M., PAIZS Cs., BENCZE L.-Cs. - Upgraded activity assays for PET-degrading enzymes
March, 2024

Kick-off meeting