Example of application for structural Biology

Understanding of the molecular mechanisms of the cell for analysis of significant interest to the pharmaceutical sector

The fields of application of structural biology range from the analysis of the three-dimensional structure of biological macromolecules to the study of their interactions with metabolites and drugs. The latter aspect is particularly relevant for drug design,  based on knowledge of the three-dimensional structure of the target protein. The detailed knowledge of the structure of a biological macromolecule allows us to describe its action mechanism and to exploit this information for therapeutic purposes, to design selective inhibitors that can be used as drugs, or for biotechnological purposes, for example to modify the active site of an enzyme to change its specificity and use it for industrial purposes.

The possibility to use in an integrated way the different techniques available on the platform will allow the understanding of the molecular mechanisms of the cell in investigations of particular interest for pharmaceutical and biotechnological development in the following areas:

• Study of biological macromolecules, potential targets of “intelligent” drugs, i.e. capable of modulating and correcting altered functions in complex pathologies such as cancer, neurodegeneration and inflammation, the knowledge of which allows the chemical design of new molecules that are more active, more selective and less toxic.
• Drug delivery. Study of transmembrane transport mechanisms of nanoparticles that can be used as drug carriers (e.g. exosomes).
• Nanotoxicology. Nanotoxicology is the study of tissue and cell interactions with nanoparticles and nanofibres. It is known that some nanofibres, such as those present in asbestos, penetrate tissues and are long-term carcinogens. The platform is the ideal structure on which to perform analysis of the penetration of nanoparticles into tissues and cells to assess their actual toxicity, or for the detection of rare particles within tissues for the evaluation of contamination in production processes or for forensic medicine applications.
• Development of anti-cancer drugs. The platform is suitable for mechanically, morphologically and microscopically characterising tumour spheroids (a model of tumour metastases that mimics the growth of metastases within the host tissues) to study the effects of new chemotherapy methods.