ETH advances medication research

Scientists at the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH) have developed a new approach known as protein-metabolite interactomics, announced a statement.

The group led by Paola Picotti systematically analyzed and quantified the interactions between proteins and metabolites on the level of the whole proteome for the first time. The proteome is the entire set of proteins in a biological entity such as a cell.

When a protein interacts with a metabolite, it attaches to a specific site. The metabolite then regulates the protein, changing its structure during this process.

The scientists cut the proteins into smaller pieces, known as peptides, using molecular scissors. These scissors cut unchanged proteins in different places to the proteins interacting with metabolites.

By analyzing the peptides, the researchers were able to identify structural changes. With E. coli, they discovered about 1,650 different protein-metabolite interactions, of which over 1,400 were previously unknown.

The findings have “sharply increased” scientific understanding of these interactions, according to the statement.

The scientists found that the binding of metabolites to proteins is one way in which cells regulate protein activity. Proteins can be activated or inactivated relatively quickly by a structural change mediated by metabolites.

The new approach is very interesting for the pharmaceutical industry, as it can be used to test the interaction of drugs with cellular proteins and thus identify the targets of a drug.

ETH Professor Picotti has already patented the method. The Schlieren-based company Biognosys, a spin-off from the ETH, is the exclusive licence holder. The proteomics specialist is now using the method to test various drugs on behalf of pharmaceutical companies.