PNAs: new simple protein has positive effect on cell function

Scientists at Yale University have developed simple new proteins, which have little chemical diversity, but still play an amazing role in cell function, making cells just like cancer cells They published the report in the proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on August 10 Protein has various functions and is the substance on which all life depends It has a variety of functions because of a specific large number of amino acid sequences, which are usually hundreds or thousands The side chains of these amino acids show great chemical diversity, forming a large number of protein structures, such as enzymes that produce biochemical reactions and carrier proteins, such as hemoglobin, which transports oxygen to tissues According to the study of a short viral protein, the viral protein can cross the cell membrane and cause tumor The synthetic membrane protein designed by Yale team is only 26 amino acids long It is worth noting that their report shows that only two amino acid side chains of these new protein sequences are very similar Although the protein is very simple, a small portion of these sequences are biologically active and can also be isolated by genetic selection, said Dr Daniel dimao, senior author of the study, and Waldemar von zedtwitz, Professor of genetics, associate director of the Yale cancer research center "We've created the simplest proteins that are not only active, they're unique They can find a target in the cell and activate it, which leads to uncontrolled cell growth " DiMaio said "We want to know if there are similar proteins in cells that have been overlooked because of their simplicity, some of which may lead to cancer Maybe sometimes we need to rethink what an active protein is " Di Maio added that synthetic biological agents, including active development of new drugs and potential new drugs, can come from learning these simple proteins.