Designer Drugs May Respond to Genetic Switch

Working with a bacterial model, they found that binding a complementary DNA strand--forming double-stranded DNA--caused a change in the mechanical tension of the protein molecule. The alteration in tension was sufficient to transform the protein from an inert to an active state. These findings were published in the January 28, 2005, issue of Physical Review Letters.

"We can switch a protein on and off, and while we have controlled a specific protein, we believe our approach will work with virtually any protein,” said contributing author Dr. Giovanni Zocchi, assistant professor of physics at UCLA. "This research has the potential to start a new approach to protein engineering.”



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