Nanoscale tech tracks proteins inside living neurons to guide Alzheimer's and Parkinson's drug discovery - Phys.org

AI design tools make proteins that break bonds that are stable for hundreds of years. A protein is a chain of amino acids held together by what are called peptide bonds. On their own, those bonds are extremely stable; they’re estimated to have a half-life of several hundred years. But in Earth’s environment, most proteins don’t last nearly that long. That’s because organisms have evolved a handful of ways to catalyze the break-up of peptide bonds, which have diversified into countless specialized protein-digesting enzymes. Proteases are everywhere and generally make short work of any proteins that find their way into the environment.

Google DeepMind researchers who developed the method say that this will help uphold scientific integrity and prevent misuse of protein designs Google DeepMind has developed a way to watermark proteins designed by artificial intelligence (AI) during the design process itself, which could help scientists better track the origin of these structures.

University of Oregon biologists have brought prehistoric proteins back to life, reconstructing molecules that date back as far as 160 million years and naturally attack microbes. The revived proteins could provide scientists with new ideas for treating antibiotic resistant infections, which have become a major global health challenge. The work, described in a paper published in PLOS Biology on Aug. 25, traced the evolutionary history of peptides, short fragments of proteins, back to the earliest placental mammals. This broad group includes humans and nearly all mammals living today. Laboratory experiments showed that some reconstructed peptides from extinct ancestors were more effective against drug resistant bacteria than some versions found in modern species.

Microorganisms are capable of some extraordinary chemistry. One example is nitrogen fixation, a process that converts nitrogen gas (N2) into a form living organisms can actually use. Nitrogen makes up about 78 percent of Earth's atmosphere, but plants and animals cannot use it directly because the two nitrogen atoms in N2 are joined by an exceptionally strong chemical triple bond. Certain microorganisms have evolved a way around this problem. They can break that bond and transform N2 into ammonia, which can then be incorporated into biological molecules. One of these organisms is the deep-sea archaeon Methanocaldococcus infernus, which lives in volcanic marine environments where vent fluids can reach temperatures above the boiling point of water.