Designer proteins could help fight disease

New hope for future heart and cancer treatments is being provided by groundbreaking UK research that aims to create ‘designer molecules’.

Scientists at the University of Leicester have developed a new way to make protein-based drugs that could have applications in stroke, vascular inflammation, blood vessel formation, regenerative medicine and tissue engineering.

Dr Shikha Sharma of the university’s department of cardiovascular sciences said her new method mimics natural evolution to make new proteins over a much shorter timescale, speeding up a process that takes millions of years in the natural world to just a few weeks.

“There are millions of different proteins that are involved in carrying out numerous functions in the human body. Over time each protein has evolved to optimise its function. Disease could result if any of these fail to perform efficiently,” she explained.

“By generating designer proteins in test tubes, we can produce molecules that have specific actions to control processes in the body. These proteins can be used to make drugs as a treatment for heart disease and cancer.”

Dr Nick Brindle of the University of Leicester commented: “Shikha has made great progress towards this new method, which holds the promise of new better drugs for a wide range of human and animal disease.”