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Glowing proteins enable real-time, 3-D study of essential enzymes

Working in organoid models, researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine have developed a new tool to study protein-kinase C (PKC) enzymes, which play a critical role in cell growth, differentiation and survival. Malfunction of these proteins is linked to many human diseases, including cancer and neurodegenerative diseases, but it has been difficult for scientists to study how and when they are active in different areas of the cell.

The published October 11 in Nature Chemical Biology, was led by Qi Su, Ph.D., a postdoctoral researcher at UC San Diego School of Medicine, and Jin Zhang, Ph.D., a professor in the Departments of Pharmacology, Bioengineering, and Chemistry and Biochemistry at UC San Diego.

The new findings solve this problem and could help pave the way toward new treatments for these diseases.

The researchers developed a new fluorescent biosensor—an engineered protein that changes its fluorescence in response to specific conditions—that is highly sensitive to PKC activity, allowing the researchers to observe how these enzymes work in real time and in 3D space. The researchers found that different types of PKC have designated parts of the cell in which they're active.

However, these "signaling territories" can change in response to stimuli, which could help explain why these enzymes are critical to a wide range of cellular processes and help scientists better understand their role in human disease.