Prof. Kayoung CHUNG’s research team (SKKU, Dept of Pharmacy) announced on the world renowned journal “CELL” that they have revealed the process of sequential structural transformation in a cell that leads to the combination of G Protein and its receptor. This discovery has opened a new opportunity for the development of a new drug.
G Protein receptor activates signal transduction by combining internal G Protein when it senses external signal. Simply speaking, it acts like a button that controls the function of human body. This research is anticipated to provide the beginning of the development/improvement of new drugs considering the fact that over 40% of the medicines work in this method.
The 2012 Nobel Prize in Chemistry went to Professor Robert LEFKOWITZ (Duke University) and Brian KOBILKA (Stanford University) for discovering the structure of G Protein-coupled receptor. They were able to prove that G Protein is relevant to many diseases but failed to prove the principle of its action.
The research by Prof CHUNG has taken a step further from the Nobel Prize winning research. Prof JUNG has proven that the structure of G Protein receptor found earlier is not a suitable model for the development of new drug and suggested that the structure of G Protein receptor in the early stage of combination is more suitable for this purpose.
Prof CHUNG said, “We have proposed a theory that changes the paradigm of G Protein activation. It will be a new strategy in developing G Protein activating medicine.”
Original Article (Korean): https://news.v.daum.net/v/20190510000046388?f=m
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