Researchers Make New Discoveries in Key Pathway for Neurological Diseases

An intermediate step in the enzymatic process of the body’s metabolic pathway has been discovered by researchers from Georgia State University, as published in the journal Nature Communications. The study analyzed the tryptophan kynurenine pathway, which is associated with psychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders. This pathway produces nearly all tryptophan in the body — primary basis for serotonin — which regulates overall mood and mental stability. Using time-lapse crystallography and single-crystal spectroscopy, the reaction rate was slowed down by nearly 10,000 times to observe the process, which revealed new enzyme interactions never previously observed or theorized. The author explained, “Enzymes work by stabilizing reactive intermediates. Through this isomerization mechanism, we found a new reactive intermediate stabilized by this enzyme. So if you want to design a drug, your best bet is to try and make something that looks very similar to this so that it will bind to the enzyme. That’s a general strategy for drug design. You want to try and make drugs that look very similar to transition states. Basically, we found a new transition state in this work.” To learn more about this study, click here.