Hyderabad: Scientists at Hyderabad’s Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) have made a discovery that could change how we understand both plants and medicine, all by closely watching how a single protein bends and twists. Their research shows that proteins don’t always work by staying in a fixed shape. Instead, some proteins can change their form slightly, depending on what task they need to perform. This tiny amount of “flexibility” gives them the power to do more than one job, which could help plants survive tough conditions and also inspire new ways to make better medicines. The team studied two plant proteins that look nearly identical under a microscope. But one of them could do much more — it was able to bind with many types of RNA (the molecules that help control genes inside cells). This was because it could subtly shift its shape just enough to fit each partner it interacted with, like a key that changes shape to fit different locks.“We found that this slight movement is not random or unstable. In fact, it gives the protein a special advantage,” said Dr Mandar Deshmukh, the lead researcher. “It helps the cell use fewer proteins to handle many functions — especially important in plants, which don’t have a full immune system like we do.” To catch these tiny shape shifts, which happen in only 1 per cent of protein molecules and last just a fraction of a second, the scientists used a powerful imaging method called NMR spectroscopy. They also used computer simulations to understand how these movements help proteins interact with various partners.Why does this matter? For one, it explains how plants can regulate complex gene functions without needing thousands of different proteins. Secondly, it gives scientists a new idea: if we can design artificial proteins that are flexible, we might be able to create drugs that work in more than one way or crops that are better at handling stress. “This is nature’s way of multitasking,” said Debadutta Patra and Jaydeep Paul, joint first authors of the study. “A single protein, with the right level of flexibility, can do the work of many.”Their findings, published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, show that future research should focus not just on what proteins look like, but how they move. It could open the door to smarter medicines and stronger crops — all by learning to embrace a little wiggle.
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