New Nanoparticles Could Revolutionize Therapeutic Drug Discovery
Friday, July 24, 2009 - 15:49
in Biology & Nature
Understanding the structure of proteins is a vital first step in developing new drugs, but to date, researchers have had difficulty studying the large number of proteins that are normally embedded in the cell membrane, a family of proteins that includes those involved in cancer-related signaling processes. However, using nanoparticles, scientists from the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom have found a way to preserve membrane proteins intact, enabling detailed analysis of their structure, molecular functions, and interaction with potential anticancer agents.