Health & Medicine
Mysterious Cloud-Like Collections in Cells May be Key to Fight Disease
Catherine Griffin
First Posted: Sep 02, 2014 11:36 AM EDT
About 50 years ago, scientists spotted the presence of tiny blob-like structures that formed inside cells, move around and disappear. Now, researchers are taking a closer look in order to find out exactly what these shifting cloud-like collections of proteins do.
"I want to know what these assemblages are doing in Ewing sarcoma, the disease I concentrate on-and would think all other researchers who study human biology would want to know their functions in both health and disease," said Jeffrey Toretsky, one of the researchers, in a news release.
Intrigued by these cloud-like collections, the researchers pulled together all the biophysics and protein biochemistry knowledge available on assemblages into a review article. They also called on the expertise of chemists and physicists from Georgetown University.
So what did they find? It turns out the assemblages are often, but not always, made up of proteins that are intrinsically disordered. This means that they don't assume a specific shape in order to fit like a lock and key onto other proteins. In addition, these intrinsically disordered proteins seem to find each other and then form into gel-like assemblages, a process called "phase separation," that can trap and interact with other proteins and RNA.
What's interesting is that these collections are believed to be crucial to the life of a cell. This means that they could offer a new approach to disease treatment. This, in turn, means that these assemblages could be targeted with a small molecule to help with disease.
"Current drug-discovery dogma suggests that it is very hard to make a small molecule to prevent two structured proteins from interacting," said Toretsky. "However, small molecules have a greater likelihood of disrupting intrinsically disordered protein-protein interactions."
The findings are published in the Journal of Cell Biology.
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First Posted: Sep 02, 2014 11:36 AM EDT
About 50 years ago, scientists spotted the presence of tiny blob-like structures that formed inside cells, move around and disappear. Now, researchers are taking a closer look in order to find out exactly what these shifting cloud-like collections of proteins do.
"I want to know what these assemblages are doing in Ewing sarcoma, the disease I concentrate on-and would think all other researchers who study human biology would want to know their functions in both health and disease," said Jeffrey Toretsky, one of the researchers, in a news release.
Intrigued by these cloud-like collections, the researchers pulled together all the biophysics and protein biochemistry knowledge available on assemblages into a review article. They also called on the expertise of chemists and physicists from Georgetown University.
So what did they find? It turns out the assemblages are often, but not always, made up of proteins that are intrinsically disordered. This means that they don't assume a specific shape in order to fit like a lock and key onto other proteins. In addition, these intrinsically disordered proteins seem to find each other and then form into gel-like assemblages, a process called "phase separation," that can trap and interact with other proteins and RNA.
What's interesting is that these collections are believed to be crucial to the life of a cell. This means that they could offer a new approach to disease treatment. This, in turn, means that these assemblages could be targeted with a small molecule to help with disease.
"Current drug-discovery dogma suggests that it is very hard to make a small molecule to prevent two structured proteins from interacting," said Toretsky. "However, small molecules have a greater likelihood of disrupting intrinsically disordered protein-protein interactions."
The findings are published in the Journal of Cell Biology.
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone