The temperature -sensitive protein module can lead the cell activity remotely

BCLOV4 Utilizes heat sensitivity to produce a purely temperature -induced protein. Credit: Natural method (2025). Doi: 10.1038/S41592-024-02572-4
Imagine that you are in the arena like a super bowl, in the arena in the arena where the RO sound of the crowd, the smell of hot dogs, and the jersey sea are all one mixed Otic. 。 The enthusiastic and exciting environment certainly improves your viewing experience, but it can also be difficult to find the people you come with when you are separated. If you communicate over the phone or waving from the stand, it may be a tired game of a hide -and -seek in noise and noise.
Now, imagine that there is a way to remorse you with accurate accuracy, which is a gently fine -tuned app that emphasizes the accurate position and moves in the right direction. It is essentially achieved by bi -engineer alkas Bugaji and his team at the University of Pennsylvania. The arena is a human body, and the people you are instructing are damaged tissues that are designed to be sent to execute specific tasks such as cancer and repair.
The team survey is published in Nature Methods Journal. Related research briefing is also available.
“Because a lot of things are happening in a complex living system, you can communicate with them when you like to send modified cells to your body, execute specific functions, and find pathogens and cancer cells. Then, don’t go to the right place to do the right time to guide them.
In a new paper, Bugaj Lab introduces a tool to “remotely and non -invasively communicate, control and control cell activity” when entering the arena. This paper focuses on the protein developed by the team and is called Melt and can be switched at temperature.
From light to heat: Development of molten objects
Control the behavior of cells in light, which is a field known as photocellology, has been a biology game changer since the development of almost 20 years ago. This includes a researcher that activates or inactive certain routes in cells using light -sensitive proteins. But there is a catch. Light does not penetrate deeply into the tissue, so it is unrealistic for many treatments.
“We needed something that we could go deeper,” says Bugaj. “The temperature enters there. The heat is more penetrating. Move the tissue in a way that can not be visible.”
Blake -through came from a surprising source, a surprising source known as a notorious bottleitisinelea, causing strawberries and grapes of grapes. The fungus produces a protein called BCLOV4. This was initially studied for its light sensitivity, but unexpected things happened when Bugaj’s lab introduced protein into human cells.
“We have noticed that proteins are not just reacting to light. It was reacting to the temperature,” said the first author and former Ph.D. Bugaj Lab student, Will Benman. “That’s when I thought,” I understand, it’s really really exciting. ” This is because there are many proteins that respond to light, but there are not so many proteins that respond to the temperature. “
Did the team suspect that they can design proteins so that they respond only to temperature? If so, can they use it to control cell behavior in a non -invasive way? For a few months, they changed BCLOV4 to a new protein. This acts as a tool that is sensitive to temperature: a short circuit using the melting -temperature.
“We will break the light sensitivity and adjust the temperature sensitivity to work at the human body temperature,” says Pavan Iyengar, a former researcher of Bugaj Lab. “Now, there is a switch that works like a dimmer. Raise the temperature, activate it, lower it and disable it.”
By combining molten materials to different cell paths, the team demonstrated that the team would accurately control the processes such as cell signals, peptide decomposition, and cell death. In one remarkable experiment, applying devices to local cooling (“glory ice pack”) to animal models may cause cancer cell death without the systemic toxic to traditional chemotherapy. Was shown.
It works and melts
The team also investigated the use of melt basic research. There is a new insight on cell function by controlling the cell path in real time.
“It’s like a rare case that can do very different proteins,” says Melt Paper and Ph.D. Zikang (DENNIS) Student of Bugaj Lab of HUANG. “It can detect light, detect the temperature, go to the membrane, and also have other molecular functions, but most of the known natural proteins have only one of these functions. There is a possibility of designed more new proteins with a single protein.
In the near future, the team believes that melt will be useful for important discovery of cancer therapy, which will enable lower targets and toxic treatment.
“In addition, these tools can open the path to new types of cell therapy that respond to physiological queues such as fever and inflammation,” says Bugaj.
Details: Papers: William Benman et al, temperature -induced protein module for control of mammal cell fate, natural law (2025). Doi: 10.1038/S41592-024-02572-4
Research briefing: Temperature sensitivity protein, accuracy control of cell functions (2025). Doi: 10.1038/S41592-024-02573-3
Provided by Pennsylvania University
Quotation: The temperature-sensitive protein module can lead to the cell activity remotely (January 29, 2025) January 29, 2025 https://phys.org/news/2025-01- Temperature-sity-sity- Obtained from module-cell.html
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