By Michelle Morgante, UC Merced
Proteins are miniscule machines inside the body, about 10,000 times smaller than the thickness of human hair. They control all the processes of life like how cells communicate to each other, how the immune system combats infection, how muscles contract, and how oxygen is picked up in the lungs and delivered to those very same muscles.
Proteins can do all of this because they change shape, assemble and interact with other biomolecules in response to specific cues. This general property makes proteins extremely attractive targets for a variety of applications in medicine, environment, food industry and energy. But it also has proven very difficult to harness. Now, bioengineering Professor Victor Muoz has made a key discovery that could allow scientists to engineer adaptive proteins and convert them into powerful technological applications, including smart medicines.
In a paper published Dec. 13 in Nature Communications, Muoz and a team of researchers describe how they were able to engineer proteins to form assemblies, dissociate and change shape in response to signals. The discovery could allow scientists to, for example, use proteins to deliver drugs in a way that is less toxic and more targeted than current practices.
Proteins in their natural state are easily passed through the kidney, meaning they are not in the blood long enough to act as an effective medicine.
But when a protein makes an assembly, Muoz said. It forms structures that are larger and sturdier and dont get secreted out of the kidney. They stay in the blood for a longer time.
Muoz, who is director of UC Merceds Center for Cellular and Bio-Molecular Machines (CCBM-CREST), said research for this project began a decade ago and has involved collaboration from several groups around the world. The work to figure out how to engineer proteins to act as nanomachines has been challenging and tortuous.
They do all these complicated things and are so small. That means their design principles and organization are incredibly sophisticated, he said. People have been able to design proteins that will form particular assemblies of many different shapes, but they have not been able to make them adaptive so they switch their shape and properties in response to stimuli.
"This opens the gate for developing drugs that are based on proteins in a way they could be delivered as inactive assemblies that remain in the blood as needed to then be activated on cue at a given time or in a specific location in the body."
director, Center for Cellular and Bio-Molecular Machines
The discovery may lead to important applications in biosensor research, medicine, diagnostics, vaccines, bioremediation anything you could imagine, Muoz said.
In medical applications, for example, proteins engineered this way could become a new technology for the smart delivery of specific drugs.
This would have enormous advantages over conventional drugs, which are much less specific, more toxic and can cause a range of harmful side-effects. It could also help store an inactive version of the protein in blood for a relatively long time, eliminating the short lifespan curse of current protein pharmaceuticals.
This opens the gate for developing drugs that are based on proteins in a way they could be delivered as inactive assemblies that remain in the blood as needed to then be activated on cue at a given time or in a specific location in the body, Muoz said.
The next step, Muoz said, will be to try the process in other systems and see whether it can be generalized. This was a proof of concept. Next, wed like to target systems that have more interesting applications to exploit the possibility of making this into a real technology thats useful.
Read this article:
- Podcast 9 Athens part 3 and news - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Podcast 10 Athens part 4 - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Podcast 11 Athens Part 5 - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Episode 12 Cardiac Nuclear Medicine in the UK - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Podcast 13 Choline PET and prostate cancer - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Episode14 ED function and Dysponea - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- ep 15 Collimator Choice and Reconstruction algorithm - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Episode 16 Dr Strauss on vulnerable plaque - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Episode17 Chemical Stress - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Episode 18 Myocardial Perfusion Imaging and Diabetes - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Episode 19 The INSPIRE trial - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- 20 Dual isotope with a difference - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Episode 21 The real effect of stress - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Episode 22 D-SPECT - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Episode 23 VQ Reprise - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Episode 24 Hepatobiliary Nuclear Medicine - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Episode 25 Sleep Apnea - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Episode 26 Imaging Post Traumatic Stress Disorder - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Episode 27 Cardiac Stem Cells - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Episode 28 Molly Supply - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Episode 29 Melanoma therapy interview with Dr Ekaterina Dadachova - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Episode 30 Viral Therapy - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Episode 31 breast radiotherapy using radioisotopes - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Episode 32 news from snm - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Episode 33 EBV Imaging and Therapy - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Episode 34 Dr Lele SNM India 2009 - December 14th, 2009 [December 14th, 2009]
- Episode 35 Dr Andrew Scott from the Ludwig institute - January 10th, 2010 [January 10th, 2010]
- Episode 36 CardiArc - February 25th, 2010 [February 25th, 2010]
- Episode 37 Dr Modder Radiosynoviorthesis (Radiation Synovectomy) - March 31st, 2010 [March 31st, 2010]
- Episode 38 Indian Nuclear Medicine With Dr Malhotra and Dr Krishna - May 28th, 2010 [May 28th, 2010]
- Episode 39 Prof Ora Israel The Utility of Hybrid Imaging - July 13th, 2010 [July 13th, 2010]
- Episode 40 New V/Q SPECT developments - October 11th, 2010 [October 11th, 2010]
- Episode 41 scintimun - February 14th, 2011 [February 14th, 2011]
- Episode 42 Radio-Isotope Supply into the future - March 6th, 2011 [March 6th, 2011]
- Podcast 4: DNA therapy - April 24th, 2011 [April 24th, 2011]
- Sorry about the delay a new podcast will be out soon! - April 24th, 2011 [April 24th, 2011]
- Podcast 5 Flash 3D - April 24th, 2011 [April 24th, 2011]
- Podcast 6 Affibody - April 24th, 2011 [April 24th, 2011]
- Podcast 7 EANM 2006 Athens Part 1 - April 24th, 2011 [April 24th, 2011]
- Podcast 8 Athens Part 2 - April 24th, 2011 [April 24th, 2011]
- Episode 43 Rapidscan Part 1, 720P high quality video version - May 1st, 2011 [May 1st, 2011]
- Episode 43 Rapidscan Part 1, Ipod quality video - May 1st, 2011 [May 1st, 2011]
- Episode 43 Rapidscan Part 1, Audio version - May 1st, 2011 [May 1st, 2011]
- Episode 45 Mummies with cardiovascular disease video - May 21st, 2011 [May 21st, 2011]
- Episode 45 Mummies with cardiovascular disease audio edition - May 21st, 2011 [May 21st, 2011]
- Episode 46 Dr Gordon DePuey Choosing Reconstruction clinical perspective - August 7th, 2011 [August 7th, 2011]
- Episode 46 Dr Gordon DePuey Choosing Reconstruction clinical perspective audio version - August 7th, 2011 [August 7th, 2011]
- Episode 47 Cardiac Image Fusion With Dr Kaufmann - September 18th, 2011 [September 18th, 2011]
- Episode 47 Cardiac Fusion with Dr Kaufmann video version - September 18th, 2011 [September 18th, 2011]
- Dear Steve, I am and many more like me are your one more thing. - October 9th, 2011 [October 9th, 2011]
- EPISODE 48 PET MRI camera from Siemens with Dr Georgi audio - October 23rd, 2011 [October 23rd, 2011]
- EPISODE 48 PET MRI camera from Siemens Dr Georgi video - October 23rd, 2011 [October 23rd, 2011]
- Silicon Biosystems to Present Single-Circulating Tumor Cell Molecular Characterization at the Fourth World CTC Summit - April 25th, 2012 [April 25th, 2012]
- Leukaemia cells have a remembrance of things past - April 25th, 2012 [April 25th, 2012]
- Technologist Education Requirements Can Help Cut Repeat Scans - April 25th, 2012 [April 25th, 2012]
- HKU Collaborative Research Discovers A Novel Molecular Mechanism Of A New Anti-HIV-1 Drug Candidate - April 25th, 2012 [April 25th, 2012]
- Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis and the Nephrotic Syndrome - Part 1 Clinical - Video - May 4th, 2012 [May 4th, 2012]
- Electro-Medicine : Biological Physics - The Molecular Basis of Alzheimers Disease - Video - May 4th, 2012 [May 4th, 2012]
- osdd heterocyclic compounds and molecular medicines - Video - May 4th, 2012 [May 4th, 2012]
- Molecule to Medicine: The Biomarker Frontier - Video - May 4th, 2012 [May 4th, 2012]
- Fulfilling the Promise of Molecular Medicine in a Developmental Brain Disorder - Video - May 4th, 2012 [May 4th, 2012]
- Focus on Stefanie Dimmeler - Video - May 4th, 2012 [May 4th, 2012]
- Dundee - May 4th, 2012 [May 4th, 2012]
- Nanotechnology In Medicine: Huge Potential, But What Are The Risks? - May 5th, 2012 [May 5th, 2012]
- Cutting Edge Technology Coming To DMH - May 5th, 2012 [May 5th, 2012]
- This Week in Experimental and Molecular Pathology - May 5th, 2012 [May 5th, 2012]
- Researchers' discovery offers hope for cancer, heart disease miracle drugs - May 7th, 2012 [May 7th, 2012]
- Penn State student Zachary Hostetler from Garnet Valley is being honored as a student marshal - May 7th, 2012 [May 7th, 2012]
- NCKU Student Wins Prestigious Award for Anti-Cancer Research - May 10th, 2012 [May 10th, 2012]
- In-Vitro Diagnostics (IVD) Market (Clinical Chemistry, Immunoassays, Molecular Diagnostics, Hematology Analyzers ... - May 10th, 2012 [May 10th, 2012]
- Pitt team uses genomics to identify a molecular-based treatment for a viral skin cancer - May 10th, 2012 [May 10th, 2012]
- Genomics used to identify a molecular-based treatment for a viral skin cancer - May 10th, 2012 [May 10th, 2012]
- 2 molecular biologists get $500K medical prize - May 13th, 2012 [May 13th, 2012]
- 2 molecular biologists share $500K medical prize - May 13th, 2012 [May 13th, 2012]
- Lab21 Unveils New Molecular Analysis Services at Greenville Site - May 13th, 2012 [May 13th, 2012]
- 2 molecular biologists from NYC to share $500K medical prize for pioneering research on cells - May 13th, 2012 [May 13th, 2012]
- Two Molecular Biologists Get $500K Medical Prize - May 13th, 2012 [May 13th, 2012]
- Pair of molecular biologists receive Albany Medical Center Prize - May 13th, 2012 [May 13th, 2012]
- CNIO scientists successfully test the first gene therapy against aging-associated decline - May 16th, 2012 [May 16th, 2012]
- Cancer Institute of New Jersey Aims to Advance Personalized Cancer Treatments Through 'Precision Medicine' - May 16th, 2012 [May 16th, 2012]