Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) researchers have successfully designed and improved a new type of cancer-killing compound by performing molecular surgery to stabilize the molecule so that it selectively triggers cell death. The idea for developing the compound emerged from the HHMI laboratory of Stanley J. Korsmeyer, who leads one of the hottest research teams currently studying programmed cell death, or apoptosis, a genetic program that executes cells that are no longer needed. Using the biologically active portion of a protein that triggers apoptosis, Korsmeyer’s team successfully inserted non-natural amino acids into the peptide sequence and then performed a chemical reaction that created a “staple” within the molecule, resulting in its stabilization. Korsmeyer and the paper’s lead author, Loren D. Walensky, who are at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute at Harvard Medical School, reported their studies in the September 3, 2004, issue of the journal Science.
