According to new research at the University of Georgia, understanding the mechanism of proteins may help them to develop effective drugs that can fight deadly diseases like diabetes and cancers, reports Medical Xpress.
The research looks at the most crucial class of proteins that manages cell communication helping researchers understand and develop a better treatment for deadly diseases. Protein Kinases are a huge class of proteins that control the mechanism of cell communication.
"The overall goal of this project was to better understand how these proteins function and what mechanisms control their function," said Natarajan Kannan, a Georgia Cancer Coalition Distinguished Scholar and assistant professor of biochemistry and molecular biology in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, according to Medical Xpress. "Our research shows that these little-studied dark regions of the protein are directly affecting the molecule's function."
The protein kinases are essential and must work normally on a daily basis within our bodies. If these proteins malfunction, it may lead to development of severe conditions including cancers, diabetes and Alzheimer's. Commonly prescribed drugs namely known as protein kinase inhibitors help in slowing down or even stopping the harmful kinases that develops the disease.
"This opens a new front on the battle against many diseases, particularly cancer," said Krishnadev Oruganty, a postdoctoral research associate in biochemistry and molecular biology and lead author of a paper.
The UGA scientists are focusing on developing the drugs in a cost effective manner which is possible through modifying the existing drugs after understanding the mechanism of proteins. Developing new drugs will be pricey and consume large amount of time, hence modification of existing drugs will be cost effective and less time consuming, the report said.
"These are a very important class of proteins for biomedical industries, and the pharmaceutical industry has already invested billions of dollars in drugs that target these proteins," said Kannan, who is also a part of the UGA Cancer Center and the Institute of Bioinformatics. "This discovery will have a huge impact on how pharmaceutical companies develop drugs, because subtle modifications of these drugs will make it easier to control them, which will boost their effectiveness."
"Every fundamental signaling pathway in our cells is controlled by these proteins," Kannan said. "Gaining a deeper understanding of how these kinases work will open doors to a myriad of important new discoveries."
The findings are published in the early edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
