Researchers at the Institute for Protein Design have discovered how to create peptides that slip through membranes and enter cells. This drug design breakthrough may lead to new medications for a wide variety of health disorders, including cancer, infection, and inflammation. This research appears in the journal Cell [PDF].
“This new ability to design membrane-permeable peptides with high structural accuracy opens the door to a new class of medicines that combine the advantages of traditional small-molecule drugs and larger protein therapeutics,” said senior author David Baker, director of the Institute.
Peptide drugs are made from the same building blocks as proteins. Unlike many traditional small molecule medicines, peptides can bind protein targets in the body with great precision, promising fewer side effects.
Gaurav Bhardwaj, Adam Moyer, Naozumi Hiranuma, Patrick Salveson, and David Baker at the UW Medicine Institute for Protein Design have co-founded a new company, Vilya, Inc., with ARCH Venture Partners that is licensing the platform and molecules described in the paper.
Discovering how to send peptides through membranes was a chemical problem. “Membranes are made of lipids, and most peptides have chemical features that cause them to hold onto water molecules. Dragging these water molecules through the lipids is difficult,” explains Bhardwaj. The scientists tried several solutions. They first crafted peptides with chemical features that reduce interactions with water. In another approach, they designed peptides that could change shapes while crossing membranes.
