A team based at the University of Cambridge’s Department of Pharmacology has developed a means of tracking – and thus understanding – the processes by which multidrug transporters deflect and eject substances from cells. Their work will form the basis for the development of new therapies to treat cancers and infectious diseases.
Each cell in our bodies – and every cell of every organism from bacteria upwards – is surrounded by a fatty layer called the cell membrane. This membrane acts as a molecular sieve that enables entry of vital nutrients, such as sugars, into the cell and allows exit of the garbage. The traffic of substances across the membrane is carried out by tiny molecular machines, known as transport proteins. These transport proteins ensure a healthy environment in the cell’s interior, so that cells can live and make more cells.
But the picture is much more complex as there are several types of transport proteins. While most transporters are specialists and welcome particular substances, some others eject an extraordinarily broad range of substances from the cell. These so-called ‘multidrug transporters’ are essential defense systems in all organisms ranging from bacteria to humans. They prevent the entry into the cell of toxic substances that are produced by our bodies or released by microorganisms competing for space and nutrients.
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Image: Shape-shifting in an ATP-dependent multidrug transporter involves formation of a tetrahelix bundle (in red and blue).
Credit: Hendrik van Veen
Reproduced courtesy of the University of Cambridge
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From shape-shifting to therapy
11 March 2013
The latest research into the intricate processes that let substances into and out of cells will help to lay the foundations for the next generation of therapies for major diseases.