This is a great article that demonstrates the use of some specific N,N'-diarylureas to activate the heme-regulated inhibitor kinase leading to a decreasing occurrence of elF2-GTP-tRNAiMet translation initiation complex. These results could bring better understanding and potential treatments for diseases such as cancer and certain anemias.
The dual luciferase activity assay in this paper is interesting. As abundance of the ternary complex decreases, more F-luc is translated since it is attached to the ATF-4 5'UTR. Since R-luc is not attached to ATF-4 5'UTR, its translation decreases (as with most genes) when less ternary complex is present. The ratio of these two luciferases gives a good measure of how much ternary complex is present under a given set of circumstances. The authors of the paper used this capability to find some potential drugs for cancer treatment.
ReplyDeleteI am just about to post this paper and I find it's already here. Chemical genetics is new to me. Yesterday I was wondering what the word 'genetics' means, then I found the definition from Internet:'Chemical genetics uses small molecules to change the way proteins work—directly in real time rather than indirectly by manipulating their genes.'
ReplyDeleteIn this paper I find out that small molecules can interact not only with proteins, but also protein complexes. I am not sure I fully understand the dual luciferase activity assay, hopefully I can learn more from the upcoming Tuesday class.