[CML]

[Cheryl-Anne Simoneau]

Cross 
Posted
 
This news tidbit 
highlights the very innovative use of nanotechnology in helping researchers to 
screen compounds as drug candidates.
 
Good 
reading!
 
Cheryl-Anne
 


  
  
    
      Nanowires track molecular 
      activity
    
    
  
    
      As molecules go, DNA and viruses are 
      relatively large. Many prototype sensors are aimed at detecting large 
      biological molecules, but small organic molecules also play important 
      roles in biological systems, and most pharmaceutical drugs are small 
      molecules. Researchers from Harvard University 
      have found a way to use transistors made from silicon nanowires to gain 
      information about how small molecules bind to proteins. The nanowires are 
      20 nanometers in diameter, and the electrical conductance of the devices 
      changes measurably depending on whether target molecules bind to receptor 
      molecules attached to the nanowires. A nanometer is one millionth of a 
      millimeter, or the span of 10 hydrogen atoms. The nanowire transistors could eventually be used in 
      sensor arrays capable of simultaneously detecting many different 
      molecules, including small organic molecules. The method is potentially 
      capable of rapidly screening drug candidates, according to the 
      researchers. The researchers' prototype 
      consists of arrays of several dozen sensors that sense when adenosine 
      triphosphate (ATP) molecules bind to the receptor molecules on the 
      nanowires. The researchers showed that the device could measure how 
      effectively the small molecule drug Gleevec blocked the ATP-receptor 
      binding. The receptor molecule Abl binding 
      with ATP is part of a cell signaling process that, when altered, plays a 
      role in many diseases. Gleevec is used to treat chronic myelogenous 
      leukemia. The researchers also showed that it 
      is possible to measure the degree to which four other small molecules 
      blocked the ATP binding. The sensors could be 
      ready for practical use in two to five years, according to the 
      researchers. The work appeared in the February 
      14, 2005 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy Of 
      Sciences. 



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