新しい画像処理技術により、がんやウイルス感染症の治療法を改善できる可能性(New Imaging Technique Could Lead to Better Treatment of Cancers, Viral Infections)

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UHの研究者が120万ドルの助成金を獲得し、リボソームを覗き込む
UH Researchers Receive $1.2 Million Grant to Peer into Ribosomes

2022-03-08 ヒューストン大学(UH)

ヒューストン大学の2人の研究者は、細胞の奥深くでリボソームがどのようにタンパク質を作っているかを理解するために、一種の分光法を開発しています。この発見は、がんやウイルス感染症を治療するための薬剤設計の指針となる可能性があります。分光法は、光と物質の相互作用を測定し、細胞内物質の特性や体積を決定する。

Two University of Houston researchers are developing a type of spectroscopy to help understand how ribosomes make proteins deep within cells, the discovery of which could potentially guide drug design to treat cancers and viral infections. Spectroscopy measures the interaction between light and matter to determine characteristics and volume of cellular matter.

Ribosomes GettyImages

In cellular biology, ribosomes are work horses, veritable factories inside cells, whose job is to make proteins. The instructions that tell the ribosome how to work come from messenger RNA, which contains codes on making proteins, actually called codons. One mistake in defining an upstream codon will be propagated to the rest of the messenger like the domino effect, which spells disaster to the cell.


During protein assembly, the ribosome must be precise in moving from one codon to the next, a process known as translocation. On the other hand, many viruses contain genomic sequences that are designed to slip on certain codons to re-define the protein composition after that codon, in a process called frameshifting.

“We are developing a multiplexed super-resolution force spectroscopy to investigate high-fidelity and frameshifting translocations,” said Yuhong Wang, professor of biology and biochemistry. Wang and Shoujun Xu, professor of chemistry, received a $1.2 million grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences to support their research.

“We will measure the power strokes from elongation factors (EF-G) and their mutants, which are the enzymes to interact with ribosome during translocation, on normal and viral mRNA sequences and in the presence of antibiotics,” said Xu. “Our research will provide new methodology that can be applied to other biological systems.”

Scientifically, the team is building a new model of ribosome translocation with sub-codon steps and providing potential drug targets for related diseases.

“For example, by tuning down and up the EF-G’s activity in cancer cells and low-functioning neuron cells, the diseases can be treated, anti-viral drugs can be designed that only target the specific viral frameshifting motifs,” said Wang.

Wang and Xu

Yuhong Wang, professor of biology and biochemistry and Shoujun Xu, professor of chemistry, are developing a new imaging technique with super-resolution to peer into ribosomes.

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