The current progress in biomedical science works on the basis of the identification of a gene, a protein, a biochemical function and a biological activity followed by a possible drug identification processing. This information seems to be in a linear cascade. Many Biotechs have invested on this linear cascade billions of dollars.
A typical example of a protein is the CREB-binding protein CREBBP or CBP, which is a Histone Acetyltransferase and might be used as a “scaffold” in protein complexes. Is the biological property of CBP a copy-paste expression of its enzymatic activity? Does the presence of CBP in a complex a reflection of CBP enzymatic activity or the presence of a protein in a complex remodifies its biological activities?
In fact do we search an obstacle in many drug screening assays when testing enzymatic activities that are far representative of the real biological property of the target protein in a specific biological/topological environment?
dear Vassilis,
with this interesting question we fall in the realm of the harsch dispute between reductionism and emergentism. The most recent philosophical proposals (I'm thinking about Bechtel) talk about "New Mechanist" theories, which state about intertwined levels, conditioning one each other. In your case, the enzymatic activity infuences the biological acrivity which, in turn, influences the enzymatic activity.
Dear Arturo,
You are the best!
I am working on the topological role of the protein functions and be back to you very soon!
In fact, for drug screening might be best to use a Topological Space (Choros) rather than an enzymatic activity. Geometry could resolve many biological questions and make drug screening faster and more reliable.
What we need to identify is the dimensional properties of Choros.
best, vassilis
Lens crystallins constitute another interesting example of the difficulty of making a distinction between structural and enzymatic functions of proteins.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystallin
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