The Bioinformatics-Protocols website is intended for use in teaching Biomedical Science and academic research, containing protocols developed by Dr Nat Milton. The protocols available on the site, plus links to associated websites, have been developed to use bioinformatics for in silico identification of novel protein-protein interactions. Protein-protein interactions play central roles in the physiological functions of proteins and many of the interactions that naturally occur are still unknown. An understanding of such interactions has potential for development of both therapeutic and diagnostic tools. The methods presented all use website linked software freely available to academics alongside standard word-processing plus spreadsheet programs. They are based on the idea that proteins coded by the sense and antisense strands of DNA interact and are available on the Protocols page of this website. A Taster page on this website, designed for secondary school students, uses a simplified version to identify an interaction. Antisense peptide sequences can also be used as potential ligands in laboratory based protein-protein interactions studies and potentially developed into commercial products.
An example of the use of these techniques was a study to identify Alzheimer's amyloid-ß (Aß) binding peptides that could block both neurotoxicity and fibril formation of Aß. The binding peptides were developed based on generating antisense peptides using the messenger RNA (mRNA) sequence for the Aß 1-43 peptide as a template [1],[2] that would specifically bind the Aß 1-43 peptide. The Aß antisense peptide sequences and data from their generation plus characterisation were the subject of published patent applications [2] and used to set up the NeuroDelta group plus the NeuroDelta Ltd company for commercial exploitation of the patents. Subsequent studies by other groups demonstrated that similar Aß antisense peptides were able to prevent the toxicity of Aß [3], confirming the original observations.
Bioinformatics Protocols Site Support:
Email: info@bioinformatics-protocols.com