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An effective method of alleviating the side effects of chemotherapy has been created
Last reviewed: 01.07.2025
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Scientists from Duke University (USA) have identified the structure of a key molecule that can transport chemotherapeutic and antiviral drugs directly into cells, which should help create more effective drugs with far fewer side effects for the entire body.
The transport molecule is a nucleoside-focused conveyor belt that moves nucleosides, the building blocks of DNA and RNA, into cells. It can also transport nucleoside-like drugs across cell membranes. Once inside the cell, the drug is converted into nucleosides, which are then incorporated into DNA to stop cancer cells from dividing and functioning.
The authors of the work have determined the chemical and physical principles used by the conveyor molecule to recognize nucleosides, because if the interaction between this conveyor and drugs can be improved, it will allow only the minimum amount of drug to be used to penetrate the interior of cancer cells. Knowing the exact shape of the conveyor molecule will enable researchers to develop a design for new drugs that will be better recognized by this nucleoside conveyor. Thus, it became known that the conveyor molecule has three shapes that recognize different drugs and are found in different tissues of the body.
The study examined the conveyor molecules of the cholera vibrio Vibrio cholera. The bacterial conveyor serves as a good model system for studying human conveyors, since it has similar amino acid sequences. It turned out that the human and bacterial conveyors use the same sodium ion gradient to import nucleosides and drugs into the cellular space.
The next step for the Duke researchers will be to try to understand what features of the conveyor molecule allow it to recognize certain drugs. This could ultimately lead to the development of pharmaceuticals that can easily enter cells.
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