Scientists elevate little-studied cellular mechanism to potential drug target
Sunday, December 11, 2011 - 13:00
in Biology & Nature
For years, science has generally considered the phosphorylation of proteins -- the insertion of a phosphorous group into a protein that turns it on or off -- as perhaps the factor regulating a range of cellular processes from cell metabolism to programmed cell death. Now, scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have identified the importance of a novel protein-regulating mechanism -- called sulfenylation -- that is similar to phosphorylation and may, in fact, open up opportunities to develop new types of drugs for diseases such as cancer.