The CBBL has completed part of the work of a three years long project on translational bioinformatics in cystic fibrosis (Activa). Our main role in the project was the determination of a model structure for CFTR, the chloride channel whose mutations are in the basis of the disease, as well as being a target for acute watery diarrhea drugs.
The new model, built in collaboration with Nir Ben-Tal’s lab at Tel Aviv University, proposes an open conformation of the channel, oposite to previous models, paving the way for the development of new drugs for both activation and blocking of the channel.