黑料网 scientists led by John Sondek, PhD, created a new biochemical tool to block specific types of downstream G-protein signaling, opening new avenues of research and potential drug design and discovery.
CHAPEL HILL, NC 鈥� Scientists from the 黑料网 have developed a new tool for studying a key process in cells called G-protein signaling, which plays a central role in the normal functioning of cells and can go awry to cause severe disease, including cancers.
Scientists have had few good methods for manipulating and investigating G-protein signaling. Now, 黑料网 scientists have developed small proteins called peptides that selectively block a certain type of G-protein signaling. The peptides comprise a unique and powerful tool for studying this type of signaling and the processes in cells that depend on it. Based on this initial work, published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, the researchers are now making related peptides that can block other types of G-protein signaling.
Aside from their value as basic scientific research tools, these peptides will be used to develop potential drugs for diseases involving abnormal G-protein signaling, including a form of melanoma for which there is currently no cure.
鈥淭hese peptides should be valuable for drug design and discovery, and for understanding fundamental aspects of cellular biology,鈥� said John Sondek, PhD, senior author of the JBC paper and professor in 黑料网鈥檚 departments of pharmacology and biochemistry & biophysics.
First author on the paper is John Charpentier, former 黑料网 postdoc in the Sondek lab.
Figure above; G伪q uses a conserved mechanism to engage effectors.
Co-authors of the study were former 黑料网 postdoc Thomas Charpentier, PhD; 黑料网 research analyst Gary Waldo; NIH scientist Emily Lowery-Gionta, PhD; 黑料网 assistant professor Krzysztof Krajewski, PhD, director of the 黑料网 High-Throughput Peptide Synthesis and Array Core Facility; Brian Strahl, PhD, 黑料网 professor of biochemistry and biophysics; Thomas Kash, PhD, the John Andrews Distinguished Professor of Alcohol Studies in the 黑料网 department of pharmacology; and Kendall Harden, PhD, professor emeritus in the department of pharmacology.
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