Source : Synthetic llama antibodies rescue doomed proteins inside cells — ScienceDaily
Columbia researchers have created a new technology using synthetic llama antibodies to prevent specific proteins from being destroyed inside cells. The approach could be used to treat dozens of diseases, including cystic fibrosis, that arise from the destruction of imperfect but still perfectly functional proteins.
In many genetic diseases, including cystic fibrosis, mutated proteins are capable of performing their jobs but are tagged for destruction by the cell’s quality control mechanisms.
In the cell, proteins destined for destruction are marked with a small peptide called ubiquitin. Deubiquitinase enzymes (DUBs) can remove these tags, but simply increasing DUB activity would indiscriminately rescue all proteins in a cell marked for destruction, which would be harmful.