Dr Reddy's work on protein crystallisation published in PNAS
Monday 27 June 2011
A new technique developed by Dr Reddy for crystallising proteins has been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and highlighted in Nature Methods.
When designing a new drug, scientists need to know the structure of a protein involved in the disease. They can then design a molecule that will interact with the protein to block its function. X-ray crystallography can be used to characterise the protein's structure; however, obtaining good crystals is a major hurdle.
A team of researchers led by Subrayal Reddy at the University of Surrey, and Naomi Chayen at Imperial College London, has developed 'molecularly imprinted polymers' which remember the shape of the target molecule, and which therefore act as ideal nucleants for targeting a specific protein. Their experiments yielded crystals in cases where existing methods had failed.
This innovation could have a major impact on future drug design. To read the paper, click here.
