IIT Kanpur Scientists Partner with Nobel Laureate David Baker’s Lab on AI-Guided Design of Novel Proteins Targeting Key Drug Receptors
The study titled “De novo design of miniproteins targeting GPCRs” has been published in the journal Nature. Kanpur: Researchers at IIT Kanpur worked with the laboratory of Nobel laureate Prof David Baker at the University of Washington to help design a new kind of small protein. These proteins can block a group of receptors called GPCRs (G protein-coupled receptors), which are present on the surface of cells and play a part in how many modern medicines act. It shows how artificial intelligence can be used to efficiently design and find the miniproteins that attach to specific GPCRs and change how they behave. The new method takes a different route. Instead of testing millions of chemical compounds in the lab, the researchers first used AI to design proteins that are most likely to bind to the target receptor and then tested only the best candidates in the lab. Combining computer design with lab testing this way speeds up the process of discovering new molecules with huge potential for cutting down the time of early drug discovery and saving costs. The findings of the study reveal that AI-based protein design is a practical tool for drug discovery. and years of further testing lie ahead before it reaches the clinic, the study offers a workable method for designing targeted, protein-based treatments for receptors that have been difficult to target with drugs While these specific proteins are not medicines yet.