Xu, H. Eric, Ph.D.
Professor and Director, Center for Structural Biology and Drug Discovery; Head, Laboratory of Structural Sciences; Primary Investigator and Distinguished Director, VARI/SIMM Research Center

Phone: 616-234-5772
Fax: 616-234-5773

Biographical Sketch and Selected Publications E-Mail Staff Head E-Mail Lab

Staff
Bandyopadhyay, Abhishek, Ph.D.
 Gao, Xiang, Ph.D.
 He, Yuanzheng, Ph.D.
 Kang, Yangyong, Ph.D.
 Ke, Jiyuan, Ph.D.
 Kovach, Amanda, B.S.
 Ma, Jinming, Ph.D.
 Malapaka, Raghu, Ph.D.
 Melcher, Karsten, Ph.D.
 Parker, Naomi
 Powell, Kelly
 Weber, Stephanie, B.S.
 Xu, Yong, Ph.D.
 Yu, Shanghai, Ph.D.
 Zhang, Chenghai, Ph.D.
 Zhi, Xiaoyong, Ph.D.
 Zhou, X. Edward, Ph.D.

Laboratory of Structural Sciences

Bottom row (from left to right): Booth S., Gao X., Parker N., Xu H.E., Li X., Chadwick C.; 2nd row from bottom (from left to right): Xu Y., Wang L., Ke J., Kovach A., Zhou E.; 3rd row from bottom (from left to right): Wang L., Ma J., Pal K., Chen C., Tolbert W.D.; 4th row from bottom (from left to right): Holtrop, J., Zhi X., Powell K., He A., Kang Y.; Top row (from left to right): Bandyopadhyay, A., Melcher K.

Scientific Overview

General Overview

Eric Xu’s lab is dedicated to studying individual molecules using X-rays. His staff takes pure samples of a single protein and, through a long and difficult process, produces crystals of that protein. These crystals are similar to the crystals of minerals or table salt, in which the molecules are arranged in a definite, three-dimensional pattern. The protein crystals are subjected to high-intensity X-rays at Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois, and the X-ray data are analyzed to produce a three-dimensional structure of the protein molecule itself. Knowing the structure helps scientists to understand how that protein works and, in the case of some proteins from cancer cells, how to try and stop those proteins from functioning.