Michigan State University (MSU) chemistry professor David P. Weliky has conducted research on protein structural makeup that could lead to quicker protein-based drug development.
According to excerpts from the article:
Research by a Michigan State University chemist could eventually lead to a quicker and easier way of developing protein-based drugs which are key to treating a number of diseases, including cancer, diabetes and hepatitis.
Proteins used in drug manufacture and research often are made within genetically modified Escherichia coli, a one-cell bacteria. That protein tends to collect into what scientists call inclusion bodies. Those hard-to-separate clumps render up to 95 percent of the protein unusable, according to associate chemistry professor David P. Weliky.
Some can be recovered by breaking down the protein to separate it, but because protein structure determines its function, another step must be added to “refold” it into its original configuration.
Weliky and colleagues took a closer look at the structure of the proteins that make up these inclusion bodies. Learning what makes them stick together might yield some clues as to how to separate them, he said, and that could make the manufacturing process more efficient.
Read the entire article here.
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