Proteins like "monsters" can not only eat, but also drive the development of new drugs

When it comes to protein, it may be easy to simply think that protein is a nutrient, "said Shi Yigong, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and professor of the school of life sciences, Tsinghua University." in fact, protein is the main undertaker of all the material basis and life activities of life Once the physiological function of protein declines, we will suffer from such diseases as cancer, heart disease and neurodegenerative disease And so on Recently, at the sixth national interdisciplinary protein research symposium held in Guangzhou, the reporter learned that China has been at the world's leading level in some fields of protein research, and the achievements of protein research will give birth to a series of new biotechnologies, which are expected to lead the development of new drugs What exactly does this membrane protein look like a "monster" protein? Professor Cheng Yifan from the University of California, San Francisco shared the structure of membrane protein TRPV1 at the meeting, "it looks like a monster in Star Wars." To see the membrane protein, a microscope close to the atomic resolution is needed Cheng Yifan's "magic weapon" is a frozen electron microscope which has been "knocked into the cold palace" by many scientists Cheng Yifan improved the CCD camera used in the frozen electron microscope, improved the resolution, and successfully analyzed the structure of near atomic resolution membrane protein TRPV1 by using the frozen electron microscope technology Cheng Yifan not only saw its "appearance", but also determined its "human settings" Cheng Yifan said that although TRPV1 membrane protein looks like a "monster", it can help humans fight real monsters, "because we have determined the protein structure of TRPV1 membrane protein that plays a central role in pain and heat perception." He introduced that TRPV1 membrane protein is abundant in ion channels in sensory nerve cells, but unlike other general ion channels, it can react to chemical substances or temperature changes For example, when capsaicin is encountered, TRPV1 membrane protein will change its shape to open a channel, that is, TRPV1 membrane protein may be able to relieve spicy For example, toxins and inflammatory compounds can also activate TRPV1, which may be able to relieve pain or inflammation However, TRPV1 can cause pain when it encounters extremely high temperature "These relationships provide new insights and breakthroughs for the development of many pain drugs." Cheng Yifan said Protein research is expected to drive the development of new drugs "Now we are at the world's leading level in some fields of protein Protein as a basic scientific research, will also lead to breakthroughs in such applications as pharmaceuticals and biotechnology in the future " Shi said that in the past few years, China's protein research has made great progress It was reported that the symposium was hosted by the protein Professional Committee of the Chinese society of Biochemistry and molecular biology and hosted by Guangzhou Institute of biomedicine and health, Chinese Academy of Sciences The reporter learned that in recent years, a series of breakthroughs have been made in the in-depth study of protein structure, function, interaction and dynamic change Protein research results will give birth to a series of new biotechnology, drive the development of corresponding medicine, pharmacy and green industry, and hopefully lead the future bio economy Shi Yigong is also optimistic about the application of frozen electron microscopy in protein research, "the breakthrough of this technology has changed the future of structural biology research."