• Skip to Management
  • Skip to Main menu
  • Skip to Page content
Adlershof Logo
  • WISTA
  • WISTA.Plan
  • WISTA.Service
WISTA direkt
Search
  • de
  • en
  • Adlershof Logo
  • About / Directory
    • Companies / Institutes
    • Science City in numbers
    • Direction / Maps
      • Bus / Train
      • By Car
      • Bicycle
      • Orientation / Maps
      • Trail of Thoughts
  • Newsroom
    • Overview
    • News
      • Social Media Stream
      • Success Stories
    • Events / Calendar
      • Adlershof Dissertation Award
      • Adlershof Research Forum
      • Long Night of Sciences Berlin
    • Adlershof Journal
    • Hot Topics
      • Adlershof Mission "Grand Challenges"
      • Circular Economy
      • Digital infra­structure / 5G campus network
    • Photos / Flyer / Downloads
      • Magazine archive
    • WISTA-Editorial Staff
  • Science / Technology
    • Overview
    • Technology Centres
      • Photonics / Optics
      • Biotech­nology / Envi­ron­ment
      • Micro­systems / Materi­als
      • IT / Media
      • Renewable Energy / Photovoltaics
    • Non-university Research
    • Universities / Colleges
      • Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
      • Services for Students
    • Young Talents / STEM / School Labs
    • Start-Ups
      • Adlershof Start-Up Centre IGZ
      • Adlershof Founder’s Lab
    • Networks / Management
      • Campus Club Adlershof
  • TV / Media
    • TV and Movie Production
    • Media Services / Companies
    • News and Events
    • Filming Locations
    • Costume Hire
    • GDR Film Archive
    • Tickets / Booking
  • Properties
    • Overview
    • Real Estate Rent
      • Office Space / Workspace / Laboratories
    • Real Estate Offers
      • Commercial Properties
    • ST3AM Working Environments / Coworking
    • Residential
    • Construction
      • Building Projects
      • Architecture
      • Webcam
  • Service
    • Overview
    • Gastronomy / Sport / Culture / Shopping
    • Jobs / Market
    • Social and Healthcare Facilities
    • WISTA-Business Services
    • Event Services / Guided Tours / Hotels
    • Facility Management
    • Downloads / Photos / Videos
    • Jobs for Refugees
  • Hood
    • Overview
    • History
    • Nature Park
    • Culture
    • Technology Park
    • Digital Tours
  • WISTA
  • WISTA.Plan
  • WISTA.Service
WISTA direkt

News

  • Overview
  • News
  • Events / Calendar
  • Adlershof Journal
  • Hot Topics
  • Photos / Flyer / Downloads
  • WISTA-Editorial Staff
  • Adlershof
  • Newsroom
  • News
13. December 2019

Cancer research at BESSY II

Binding Mechanisms of Therapeutic Substances Deciphered

In tumor cells, the DNA is altered in comparison to normal body cells. How such changes can be prevented or inhibited is an exciting field of research with great relevance for the development of cancer treatments. An interdisciplinary team has now analysed the possible binding mechanisms in certain therapeutic substances from the tetrazole hydrazide group using protein crystallography at BESSY II.

Certain proteins such as human histone demethylases, including the KDM4 protein, play a role in the development of tumour cells. They bind to the DNA and modify it so that the cell can become cancerous. Therapeutic substances that are able to inhibit or even reverse such changes are of particular interest.

Biochemist Prof. Dr. Udo Heinemann from the Max Delbrück Centre in Berlin-Buch is investigating such processes. In cooperation with chemists led by Prof. Dr. Andreas Link from the University of Greifswald and the team led by Dr. Manfred Weiss at the HZB, he has now investigated how and where certain therapeutic substances from the tetrazole hydrazide group dock to these protein molecules and thus inhibit their harmful effect.

KDM4 protein crystals analysed

Link initially produced variations of tetrazole hydrazide substances. For structural analysis, crystals had to be grown from KDM4 proteins - a difficult task that Dr. Piotr Malecki and Manfred Weiss had taken on at the HZB. The KDM4 protein crystals were then soaked in a specific substance before being analyzed with strong X-rays on the MX beamlines of BESSY II. A refined analysis showed not only the three-dimensional architecture of the KDM4 protein, but also exactly where the active substances had docked to the KDM4 molecule.

"This class of substances has not yet been structurally investigated," explains Manfred Weiss.  And Udo Heinemann from the MDC explains: "We will now evaluate where there are opportunities to dock even stronger within the 3D structure of the KDM4. Then we might also be able to develop drugs that inhibit the KDM4 even more and thus have the potential to become a therapeutic."

Published in ChemMedChem (2019):
“Structure-based screening of tetrazolylhydrazide inhibitors vs. KDM4 histone demethylases”, Piotr H. Małecki, Nicole Rüger, Martin Roatsch, Oxana Krylova, Andreas Link, Manfred Jung, Udo Heinemann, Manfred S. Weiss
DOI: 10.1002/cmdc.201900441
 

Further information:

Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie

Dr. Manfred Weiss
Research Group Macromolecular Crystallography
Phone: +49 30 8062-13149
Email: manfred.weiss(at)helmholtz-berlin.de

Press Officer:
Dr. Antonia Rötger
Phone: +49 30 8062-43733 / -14759
Email: antonia.roetger(at)helmholtz-berlin.de

www.helmholtz-berlin.de

Analytics Biotechnology / Environment Research Photonics / Optics

Related News

  • fragment-screening workflow © HZB

    New substance library to accelerate the search for active compounds

    Substance library of the HZB-MX team is available worldwide for the development of drugs, also in the search for active substances against SARS-CoV-2
  • Credit: Th. Splettstösser/HZB

    Proton transfer protects biomolecules

    Researchers find mecanism to protect biomolecules against light induced damage
  • LinkedInshare0
  • Facebookshare0
  • WhatsAppshare0
  • E-Mail

The development of the Science and Technology Park Berlin Adlershof was and is co-financed by the European Union namely by EFRE. This concerns infrastructure development like construction of technology centres. Furthermore EFRE is used for international projects.

  • © WISTA Management GmbH
  • Legal Notice
  • Privacy Policy
  • Social Media Guide
  • FAQ
  • Contact
  • Press
  • Newsletter
  • RSS
  • International
Member of:
Zukunftsort Adlershof Logo