Innovative Spectroscopy Is Enhancing Protein Structure Determination

Karen Steward PhD

Proteins are central to many disciplines within the life sciences. Understanding how they are formed, how they function, their role in health and disease and importantly the ways in which they respond to therapies and pharmaceutical intervention are all key aspects.

Whilst proteins are essentially created from our genetic code, the picture is far more complicated, and they are not simply a 2D representation of a genetic template. Transcription and translation are part of the picture but beyond this there are modifications, secondary and tertiary structures, all of which are influenced by the environment surrounding the forming protein. The same is true of protein-based pharmaceuticals, changes in which could have significant impact on efficacy and safety. Therefore, being able to understand what forms of a protein are present in their natural conditions, even if present only at low levels, is important for analysts.

We spoke to Julien Bradley, CEO of RedShiftBio, about their technology, the problems in protein structure analysis it overcomes and the importance of being able to make accurate and representative measurements.