Powerful method to speed cancer drug discovery unveiled -

• Research data published in the journal Cell Reports describe a new method that could hasten the discovery of new cancer therapeutics by identifying protein-protein interactions that could be targeted by medicines, Science Daily reported.
• "The number of protein functions that are currently targeted by drugs is incredibly small compared to the total number of protein interactions that could be targeted for therapeutic benefit," remarked study author Geoffrey Wahl.
• In the study, the researchers developed a method named recombinase enhanced bi-molecular luciferase complementation (ReBiL) that uses luciferase bioluminescence to identify protein-protein interactions.
• "It works like a bulb and a lamp," explained Wahl, adding "neither one lights up without the other. The ReBiL method provides a very fast and easy way of seeing whether the bulb will fit into the lamp socket."
• The researchers used the method to observe an interaction between Ube2t and FANCL, which had not been seen in mammalian cells previously, as well as interactions between Mdm2 and p53.
• "We think the method is already so good and so versatile that we're already applying it to many different questions," Wahl remarked, continuing "it has applications from understanding many growth regulatory pathways and for understanding critical processes that should lead to the identification of the targets needed for the development of new therapies."