AsianScientist (Dec. 10, 2015) – Researchers have developed a new technology for the isolation of proteins that can bind to cell membrane proteins with a high affinity. This discovery, published in Scientific Reports may advance research targeting membrane proteins linked to diseases such as cancer, and therefore has potential applications in the development of new biopharmaceuticals.
The present study is a result of joint research carried out at Kobe University and the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), led by corresponding author Assistant Professor Jun Ishii.
Membrane proteins play a vital role in controlling the physiological functions of living organisms, and abnormalities in these physiological functions cause diseases such as cancer. This means that molecules which can bind with membrane proteins and regulate physiological functions are potential candidates for drug development. However, unlike cytosolic proteins which are well studied, a system to examine protein-protein interactions for membrane proteins had not been developed.
The research team focused on the signal transduction machinery of yeast cells, which share many traits with human cells. Using the knowledge that the localization of signaling molecules on membranes is essential for the growth of yeast cells, they developed a method to select the proteins which bind with membrane proteins.
The researchers then creating an artificial intracellular environment whereby proteins competed to bind with each other, enabling the selection of mutant proteins with an enhanced affinity for membrane proteins. They demonstrated that this procedure could be applied to human epidermal growth factor receptors, a major target molecule for cancer treatment.
By identifying proteins that have a high affinity for membrane proteins, this technology facilitates the creation of new biopharmaceuticals for various drug targets. It could also potentially increase speed and reduce costs in the drug development process.
The article can be found at: Kaishima et al. (2015) Gγ Recruitment Systems Specifically Select PPI and Affinity-enhanced Candidate Proteins that Interact with Membrane Protein Targets.
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Source: Kobe University; Photo: Shutterstock.
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