Researchers at the University of Chicago have developed a new spectroscopy method that has the potential to help scientists better understand certain molecular processes, ultimately helping them create future treatments for different viruses.
Through the strategy known as lethal mutagenesis - a process that causes too many mutations within a virus so that the virus cannot manage the changed genetic material and dies - researchers from both the University of Chicago and Massachussetts Institute of Technology are gaining a better understanding of how an anti-HIV drug is able to cause these lethal mutations within the HIV virus.
Andrei Tokmakoff of the University of Chicago Department of Chemistry explained that "in order to make this [lethal mutagenesis] work, you need a stealth mutagen. You need something sneaky, something that the virus isn’t going to recognize as a problem.”
Shape-shifting molecules known as tautomers are the solution to this problem.
Previous research has shown that the molecule KP1212 has the ability to resemble DNA, and is able to bind to either cytosine or adenine. When KP1212 is paired with adenine, it can cause mutations. Known as a tautomer, KP1212 is able to change molecular shapes depending on what it is bound to. (An example of a tautomer, changing molecular shape, image on right.)
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The researchers in Chicago and Boston used a two-dimensional spectroscopy method to study tautomers, so see how they cause mutations. They found that these molecules are able to shape-shift extremely quickly, in 20 billionths of a second. Along with seeing how quickly this process can happen, the research team also found that there are many more forms of tautomers than they originally thought, bringing about more molecules that could potentially be used as treat viruses.
“KP1212 is about 20 percent of the way toward being an ideal therapeutic mutagen. The hints given to us by the spectroscopy guide us toward even better mutagenic molecules,” explained John Essigmann, leader of the MIT team on this project.
Using two-dimensional spectroscopy for further research into tautomers, new therapeutic treatments for HIV and other dangerous viruses such as Hepatitis C and influenza could potentially be created.
(Image below via Wikimedia Commons)
University of Chicago funding information:
- In the 2014 fiscal year, UChicago received more than $179 million from the NIH.
- R&D expenditures at UChicago exceeded $274 million in 2013.
- Ludwig Cancer Research gifted $90 million to the University of Chicago for research on cancer metastasis.
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University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign - 14th Annual BioResearch Product Faire™ Event - Wednesday, October 7, 2015
University of Illinois, Chicago - 16th Annual BioResearch Product Faire™ Event - Thursday, October 8, 2015