Bacteria are our companions, working with our immune system to fight crime. So, is utilising our knowledge about the bacteria in our gut the answer to fighting infectious diseases?
Press Release: Targeting a-glucosidase for Potential Diabetes Treatment
Reducing unintended secondary effects remains a major obstacle for researchers tasked with developing new treatments for chronic diseases. A major impediment to generating drugs without side-effects is that these compounds are not always specific to their biological targets. Lack of specificity can cause side-effects when the drug interacts with non-target molecules in a different biological pathway than the intended target. Published this month in Journal of Young Investigators, Kennedy et al. examine the binding of eight small molecules against α-glucosidase — a common drug target for noninsulin‐dependent diabetes mellitus (type II diabetes).
Structural Analysis of a New Saccharomyces cerevisiae α-glucosidase Homology Model and Identification of Potential Inhibitor Enzyme Docking Sites
To study potential inhibitory molecules of Saccharomyces cerevisiae α-glucosidase, a new homology model based on the most recent crystal structure of Saccharomyces cerevisiae isomaltase (PDB: 3A47) was built. This newest model was used to dock five known natural α-glucosidase inhibitors to explore the putative allosteric drug binding pockets. Examination of the docking simulations and in silico mutagenesis revealed a potential druggable pocket for binding and a critical lysine residue making thermodynamically favorable binding with the inhibitors. In order to support the data analyzed from the docking simulation a series of inhibition assays were conducted.