Researchers at Imperial College London have identified a molecule that blocks the game of a disease-causing enzyme C a breakthrough that may ultimately lead to the development of a wonder drug that could be accustomed to fight cancer, neurodegenerative conditions for example Alzheimer’s, and even diabetes.
Writing in Friday’s edition of Nature Communications, lead investigator Ed Tate, a professor within the school’s department of chemistry, and the colleagues have discovered how to turn off N-myristoyltransferase (NMT), an enzyme that makes changes to proteins that’s been “implicated in the development and advancement of a variety of human diseases.”
According Sarah Knapton, Science Correspondent with The Telegraph, the changes produced by the NMT enzyme are irreversible and prevent damaged cells from dying. Instead, it really speeds up their replication, which can cause cancer and can even make sure they are resistant against chemotherapy, she said.
The enzyme has also been implicated in Alzheimer’s, epilepsy and inflammatory conditions.
In the new study, Tate and the colleagues analyzed living human cancer cells and located over 100 proteins modified by NMT, almost all of that have been identified for the first time in their natural environment. They continued to map all the proteins and establish a small drug-like molecule capable of blocking the enzyme’s activity C thus inhibiting its ability to customize the proteins, and resulting in a potential new method to treat cancer and other NMT-related diseases.
“We are in possession of a significantly fuller picture of how NMT operates, and more importantly the way it can be inhibited, than in the past,” the professor said inside a statement. “This is the first time we have had the opportunity to look in molecular detail at how this potential drug target works within an entire living cancer cell, making this a very exciting step forward for all of us.”
“This work opens a totally new avenue for the treatment of these diseases, and works very differently using their company drugs currently under development,” he added, based on Knapton. “Eventually we hope this would just be a pill you could take. It will likely be perhaps 10 years or so to a drug ‘on the market’ but there are many hurdles to conquer.”
The researchers used a specialized tools to identify and analyze NMT and also the proteins it changes, then used mass spectrometry to quantify the result of the NMT inhibitor molecule. They utilized a process referred to as apoptosis, which programs a cell to die, to look at the interaction since the DNA that had been damaged.
The process, the research authors explained, is vital in cancer chemotherapy and it is frequently deactivated in drug resistant cancers. Previous, scientists were only conscious that NMT modified a number of proteins during apoptosis. However, the results of the new study have resulted in the identification of several additional proteins types which are affected by the enzyme, suggesting potential new ways to help overcome drug resistance.
Experts from the University of York collaborated around the research, which was primarily funded by Cancer Research UK and The Biotechnology & Biological Sciences Research Council. Additional support was provided by The Scientific research Council, The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, and also the European Union.
“This promising research can lead to new treating cancer patients, as well as for individuals with other kinds of disease too,” Cancer Research UK senior science officer Dr. Emma Smith told The Telegraph. “Drugs individuals molecule they studied could make current cancer treatments stronger and avoid the cancer coming back. The following steps is to develop this idea and make a drug C but there’s a method to go before we’ll know if it’s effective and safe in people.”
