New tool capable of changing the level of protein within cells makes its debut

Researchers from New York's Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have developed a tool that can change the level of two types of proteins within a cell. This tool gives researchers a faster and easier way to study cells, particularly stem cells.

The study used two plant hormones to target specific proteins for degradation, giving researchers the ability to influence the levels of proteins within minutes. This fast reaction allows researchers to study what happens within the cells as the levels of proteins fluctuate.

"We can, for example, monitor differences in cell cycle depending on how one or another protein is depleted, because this tool acts so quickly and so effectively," said the study's senior investigator, Ran Brosh, PhD.

The tuner can be used for up to two proteins because of the discovery of two plant hormones, auxin and coronatine, that send a signal to the cells destruction site which allows for an easier study of the proteins.  "Our tuner allows a researcher to harness the cell's degradation system, and we can turn it up or down as we wish - like dimming lights a little or all the way," Brosh said.

"Loss-of-function studies are key to understanding how genes work, but methods to rapidly and effectively disturb the function of mammalian genes—particularly stem cells—are scarce. This dual molecular tuner, in which you can manipulate two proteins independently of each other, is very useful for a wide variety of studies that have been hard to do to date, such as decoding signaling networks or protein interactions," he said.

The tool is mainly used for research but can be developed as a clinical screening for drug targets according to the researchers.