idw - Informationsdienst
Wissenschaft
Scientists from the University of Würzburg have synthesized a complex sugar molecule which specifically binds to the tumor protein Galectin-1. This could help to recognize tumors at an early stage and to combat them in a targeted manner.
Galectins are a family of proteins that have become a promising source of cancer research in recent years. A representative thereof is galectin-1. It sits on the surface of all human cells; on tumor cells, however, it occurs in enormous quantities. This makes it an interesting target for diagnostics and therapy.
"Among other things, it is known that galectin-1 hides the tumor cells from the immune system," explains Professor Jürgen Seibel of the Institute of Organic Chemistry at the Julius-Maximilians-Universität (JMU) Würzburg in Bavaria, Germany. Recent studies have shown that when Galectin-1 is blocked, the immune system can recognize the tumor and attack it with T cells.
Sugar molecule with docking station
No wonder, therefore, that galectin-1 has become a major focus of research. Seibel and his colleague Dr. Clemens Grimm is interested in a very specific section of this protein, the so-called carbohydrate recognition domain. They have now designed a complex sugar molecule that fits perfectly into this domain, as the scientists report in journal "ChemBioChem".
"We have equipped the sugar molecule with a docking site, for example, to connect it with a fluorescent dye or an drug," says Seibel. In addition, the scientists have described the binding of their molecule to galectin-1 with high-resolution X-ray structure analyzes.
"Our findings can serve the development of high-affinity ligands of the protein Galectin-1 and thus of new drugs," said Clemens Grimm.
Quick test for Galectin-1 in progress
Now the JMU scientists are working on a rapid test for the detection of galectin-1. It is designed to enable early detection of tumors such as neuroblastoma. For the future, Seibel's team would like to expand the sugar molecules into a kind of shuttle system that allows pharmaceutical agents to be transported directly to the tumors.
“Exploring the Structural Space of the Galectin-1–Ligand Interaction”, Nadja Bertleff-Zieschang, Julian Bechold, Clemens Grimm, Michael Reutlinger, Petra Schneider, Gisbert Schneider, Jürgen Seibel, ChemBioChem, 4. August 2017, DOI: 10.1002/cbic.201700251
Contact
Prof. Dr. Jürgen Seibel, Institute of Organic Chemistry, JMU, T +49 931 31-85326, seibel@chemie.uni-wuerzburg.de
Dr. Clemens Grimm, Institute of Organic Chemistry, JMU, T +49 931 31-84031, Clemens.Grimm@biozentrum.uni-wuerzburg.de
Like a spaceship, the complex sugar molecule (coloured) lands exactly on the tumor protein galectin- ...
(Picture: Workgroup Seibel, VCH-Wiley)
None
Criteria of this press release:
Journalists, all interested persons
Biology, Chemistry, Medicine
transregional, national
Research results, Scientific Publications
English
You can combine search terms with and, or and/or not, e.g. Philo not logy.
You can use brackets to separate combinations from each other, e.g. (Philo not logy) or (Psycho and logy).
Coherent groups of words will be located as complete phrases if you put them into quotation marks, e.g. “Federal Republic of Germany”.
You can also use the advanced search without entering search terms. It will then follow the criteria you have selected (e.g. country or subject area).
If you have not selected any criteria in a given category, the entire category will be searched (e.g. all subject areas or all countries).