Ever heard of protein kinases? No, us neither, but that’s ok. You don’t need to know what it is – all you need to know is that it is happening in your body right now and it is responsible for all kinds of important processes. Think of it as the manager in your body, organising all the workers (otherwise known as your body’s cells) to do their various jobs and to do them at the right time.
Researchers from the University of Georgia have now discovered an area of protein kinases that has rarely been studied before because it was thought to be non-functional. They have now realised that in fact it may be vital for wellness, as it may actually be in charge of controlling most of the activity of the molecule which directs cell activity.
Thanks to this research, health concerns as wide ranging as cancer and diabetes could be easier to fight. New drugs could be developed thanks to the research, and used to improve wellbeing of people with these conditions. This makes the research vitally important, as the results of these findings could literally save lives.
Professor Natarajan Kannan of the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences was delighted with the outcome of the project, saying that the team has gained new insight into the way that the proteins function and the repercussions of the way that they act. He also named Alzheimer’s and heart disease amongst other diseases that could have new drugs developed to fight them thanks to the research.
Developing new drugs is a process which, of course, takes a long time, but thanks to the research showing the difference between the ‘on’ and ‘off’ status of the proteins, existing drugs could actually be modified to make them more effective, which would bring these new developments to the benefit of the public very quickly and economically.
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