Researchers have developed a groundbreaking method to relocate misplaced proteins within cells, paving the way for potential treatments for a wide range of diseases, including cancers and neurodegenerative disorders.
Restoring Order to Cellular Chaos
Inside the cell, which is a densely complicated and ordered community in its own right, one that makes every protein find its particular place and purpose to serve, there is even more — everything has two sides.
But where proteins go wrong and you get them in the simple wrong place or you take genes this one clue that says make protein one starts with a certain alphabet we took those genes from another cell type and put them into muscles- so things like cancer to neurodegenerative diseases arise. For example, in some cancers, a protein that typically regulates DNA replication inside the nucleus is pushed to a vast distance away from where it should be located, preventing cells from keeping proliferation under control.
So a team led by Steven Banik, an assistant professor of chemistry at Stanford, came up with a new way to return these misplaced proteins to the organelle they call home. In a different manner the team rewires functioning natural shuttles — proteins that move other proteins within cells to new locations. To do it, the researchers have invented a new kind of small molecule called “targeted relocalization activating molecules” (TRAMs) that can compel these natural shuttles to take the proteins specifically where they need to be.
Just Scratching the Surface of Cellular Capabilities
In addition to therapeutic possibilities, the team’s work provides a way not only to correct protein misplacement associated with disease, but also offers ever-developing ways of creating new cellular functions.
Cells are compartmentalized and each has its own function. Proteins make things, demolish things, signal others where to go, tell things where not to go and many other cellular responsibilities like muscular contraction. These proteins must be in the right place in cells to work properly.
If the relocation of these proteins can be reconditioned to TRAMs, then it may open up an entirely new world, not only for functioning the damaged protein but also capitalize on newfound cellular abilities. When a protein is then exposed to other molecules or areas of the cell, it can carry out tasks that were previously unknown or off-limits by default.
If we shift the balance, if a protein suddenly has access to new molecules in a new part of the cell at a new time, what will it do?” Banik said. What potential capabilities might we be tapping into? And what little piece of biology could we understand next?
Conclusion
The researchers’ study could transform the way we combat a plethora of diseases, from cancer to neurodegenerative diseases. Their ability to establish a way of transferring proteins lost within the cells has paved new directions in cell therapy and discovering unexplored cellular processes. This advance is a major step in our deeper understanding of how proteins interact with one another, and the critical foundation this interplay forms for cellular health and homeostasis.
