Bird enzyme points toward novel therapies

Thank the crested ibis for a clue that could someday help human bodies make their own drugs. The rare bird is the only one known to naturally produce an enzyme able to generate an amino acid that is "noncanonical," that is, one not among the 20 necessary to encode most proteins.

Ibis. Photo: mollyroselee/Pixabay

Rice University chemists used a rare genetic pathway to metabolically engineer cells that serve as drug factories to make thrombin inhibitors that break up blood clots. The study began with a bioinformatic survey that found the key in a crested ibis.

Rice University chemist, Han Xiao, theoretical physicist, Peter Wolynes, and their colleagues have shown that the amino acid sulfotyrosine, or sTyr, a mutant of the standard amino acid tyrosine, is a key building block to program living cells that express therapeutic proteins.

This discovery could potentially allow cells to serve as sensors that monitor their environments and respond with necessary treatments.

The study produced the first mammalian cells that synthesize sTyr.

"In nature, most species are made with 20 canonical building blocks," Xiao said. "If you want to add an additional building block, you need to think about how to make it. Through this new strategy to modify proteins, we can totally change a protein's structure and its function."

Xiao enlisted Wolynes, co-director of the Center for Theoretical Biological Physics, one of 10 Physics Frontiers Centers established by NSF.

The Wolynes team employed an artificial intelligence program that predicts proteins structures. Comparing genome databases, they found the sulfotransferase 1C1 enzyme, which catalyzes the generation of sTyr in the ibis.

"The ibis is the only species doing this, which was discovered by a sequence similarity search of genomic information," Xiao said.

The researchers expect to use the combination of bioinformatics and computationally enhanced screening to produce a library of biosynthesized noncanonical amino acids. (U.S. National Science Foundation)

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE

New 3D model shows how cadmium exposure may affect heart development

Researchers develop new tools to demonstrate how environmental agents can lead to diseases.

'Drug factory' implants eliminate mesothelioma tumors

Study highlights potential treatment for aggressive lung cancer.

Scientists detect dementia signs as early as nine years ahead of diagnosis

Cambridge scientists have shown that it may be possible to spot signs of brain impairment in patients as early as nine years before they receive a diagnosis for one of a number of dementia-related diseases.

Anti-insulin protein linked to longevity and reproduction in ants

Role of insulin and an insulin-suppressing protein shed light on why queens live longer than workers.

Researchers develop method to study brain connectivity, functionality

Research method integrates human cortical organoids into developing rat brains, allowing for study of brain processes associated with disease.

Monoclonal antibody improves cat allergen immunotherapy

An experimental approach to enhancing a standard cat allergy treatment made it more effective and faster acting, and the benefits persisted for a year after treatment ended.