Designer Proteins for New Vaccines and Therapeutics

Abstract

Custom-designed or tailoring of proteins for specific applications is a highly active and growing area of research. A major part of this research is focused on protein engineering especially protein interfaces and interactions by employing biomolecular engineering tools. This research focus is partly due to the significance of protein interactions that are known to communicate critical information from the environment into cells to mobilize functional responses relevant to health and disease. Protein engineering can lead to custom-designed protein structures and biomaterials with the desired affinity, specificity, mechanism, or other properties that are of practical biomedical interests. Here, we describe a brief overview of protein engineering and some of the recent breakthroughs in biomedical applications of designer proteins. We discuss recent applications in new vaccine designs and advanced therapeutics for battling the challenges of complex diseases.

LC-ICP-OES method for antimony speciation analysis in liquid samples

“…Antimony (Sb) is a toxic and carcinogenic metalloid that is widely used in electronic products, alloys, flame retardants in the production of plastics, textiles, rubber, pigments for paints, as a catalyst in the production of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), in brake linings, battery grids, additive in glassware and ceramics, and semiconductors. [1][2][3][4] Because of its genotoxic effects, Sb is considered a priority pollutant by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA). [5] The permissible limit of Sb in drinking water established by the US EPA is very low (6 μg/L).…”