News
PDB-101 Focus: Peak Performance
11/21 
Since 2014, PDB-101 has focused on different topics to help build a collection molecular stories around a particular theme. Past topics have included cancer and diabetes.
In 2024, PDB-101 will highlight the structural stories of Peak Performance: the structural biology of athletics and well-being.
Athletes require bodies that are the best that is possible, all the way from molecules to muscles. By understanding the structure and function of our molecules, athletes can ensure that they are performing at their peak. This knowledge also informs the ways that we all can live our best lives, at all stages of our lives.
Visit the PDB-101 Peak Performance Browser for resources such as:
Oxygen is essential--without it, our cells rapidly die. Because of this, we have evolved a dedicated system that monitors the amount of oxygen and mobilizes responses when levels get low (termed hypoxia). Oxygen-starved cells send out signals that tell the body to create more red blood cells and build more blood vessels. Also, oxygen-starved cells reprogram their metabolism to shift energy production towards pathways that don’t need so much oxygen, for example, by decreasing pyruvate dehydrogenase and increasing lactate dehydrogenase. The Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine was awarded this year to three researchers who discovered the molecular details of this central oxygen-sensing process, termed the HIF (Hypoxia-Inducible Factor) system. Visit Molecule of the Month: Hypoxia-Inducible Factors to learn more.
