Method for identifying protein folding intermediates

The present technology concerns a computational method for the identification of protein folding intermediates, potentially useful as targets in drug discovery processes.

How does it work?

Understanding how and why proteins fold into a specific conformation, as well as how the folding pathway is encoded in their sequence and structure, is of fundamental importance for the study of protein structure and design, folding and misfolding, biological regulation and function, clinical implications and industrial applications.
The patented method demonstrated that a new computational approach, capable of identifying significant pathways in the protein folding process, is effective in identifying structural intermediates of proteins of pharmacological interest, opening up new perspectives for the development of drugs directed against hitherto unexplored targets.

Applications

• Drug discovery;
• Pharmacology;
• Biotechnology;
• Academic and industrial research.

Advantages

• Innovation in pharmacological targets;
• Reduction of search time and costs;
• Cross-applicability.