An ambitious push to unlock protein dynamics

The diffUSE Project aims to unlock our understanding of protein dynamics at a scale never before possible. We are integrating the experimental methods, computational models, data standards, and infrastructure required to capture and interpret molecular motion across the proteome. Our goal is to make dynamic structural biology as foundational and indispensable as the Protein Data Bank has been for static structures.

We believe that changing the structural biology ecosystem will require not just new methods but also new ways we work together as scientists. Namely, we are experimenting with how we coordinate efforts across the team and also how we share our scientific process and results. Read more about the philosophy behind the project here.

Why now?

Static structures have plateaued. Most of our structural biology models only encode a single snapshot. But the underlying data provides a much richer view into the dynamics of these molecules. This is demonstrated in crystallography, where the diffuse signal around Bragg peaks holds the hidden information needed to model motion. However, extracting this rich information involves changing the entire ecosystem, including how we collect, model, encode, and interpret these signals.

diffuse scattering pattern

A distributed team

We’re testing new ways to fund multiple parts of the pipeline simultaneously, enabling team members to design and coordinate across dimensions. We believe in a more holistic approach to rethinking what changes are possible and scalable.

We are a distributed team experimenting with tightly interconnected workflows.

Novel publishing practices

We strive for scientific rigor while ensuring our tools are broadly useful, as widespread adoption across the structural biology community will amplify our impact in both basic and translational science. To achieve this, we commit to opening our processes and sharing our methods as early as possible.

How we are sharing our science

  • The DiffUSE Project Logbook: Catalog X-ray datasets, collect notes from synchrotron data collection, share reports from data processing, and post preliminary analysis without filters.

  • The DiffUSE Data Management App: Under active development, this site will function to document experiment processing with markdown, images, tables, and rich metadata fields for comprehensive research tracking across datasets and beamlines.

  • Posts from our Scientists: Read direct dispatches from our distributed DiffUSE team.

Specifically, we are experimenting with novel publishing practices outside of traditional journals, in accordance with Astera’s publication policy.

Check back with us here for updates on all of our various experiments!