Pathogenic Protein Alteration can Help Treat Tuberculosis

By the use of a pioneering method, the research team from Instituto de Medicina Molecular (IMM) has discovered the defense mechanism of pathogenic protein and a way to bypass it found a new study published in Chem journal. To design novel drugs it is essential to understand the molecular mechanisms that make up proteins of pathogenic bacteria.

The team, led by Gonçalo Bernardes, used an innovative methodology that allows protein alteration in their native state along with organic chemistry, biological computation, biophysics, and biochemistry techniques to modify proteins involved in infectious diseases.

Researchers were able to identify a novel molecular mechanism that works as a shield in a family of proteins that are present in pathogenic bacteria, named phosphates.

In particular, the team observed the presence of a structural water molecule in a specific area that protects the protein of being inactivated by oxidative processes.

These results may impact the fields of medical chemistry and molecular medicine because they reveal a novel defense mechanism used by these pathogenic proteins which may prove essential in the way we think about novel drug design, particularly to increase specificity, potency, and efficacy of future clinical tests.

Source-Eurekalert