Enzyme Function in Disease

Enzymes catalyze reactions in the human body with functions ranging from the synthesis of hormones, to the breakdown of glucose, to synthesizing DNA. Many of these enzymes are at the center of diseases and represent important therapeutic targets. Understanding enzyme-structure and function can lead to identifying novel approaches to treating disease.

The  purpose of this project is to identify enzymes associated with specific diseases, investigate their structure and function, the role they play in the disease, and potential approaches to treating disease through a better understanding of the protein.

Each group will choose enzyme to study.  Together, the you will prepare a poster presentation focusing on the points listed below. The poster will be presented at a public session at the end of week 9.

Points to be addressed

  1. The disease the enzyme is associated with, the effect of the disease on the patient, and the role of the enzyme in the disease. Include the pathway or process where the enzyme is found.
  2. The overall structure of the enzyme, its active site, the reaction it catalyzes, and its role in the cell.  Include pictures of the protein and the active site in your presentation.  These can be generated using FirstGlance.
  3. The specific inhibitors used and the structure of the active site with the normal substrate and separately the active site with an inhibitor.
  4. The effect of the inhibitors including the type of inhibition and the effect of the inhibitor on enzyme activity. If more than 1 inhibitor exists, compare the effects of the different inhibitors
  5. Identify any clinical trials going on looking at the enzyme or the inhibitors. Are there new approaches being investigated? Are there investigations in, for example, repurposing the drug for a different target? What was the hypothesis/goal of the clinical trial? If completed, what was the outcome?
  6. Use at least one recent (after 2020) journal article in your discussion. This article must be primary literature (a research article) and not a review (although you may and should use reviews for information about the disease). The date limit can be extended at my discretion.

Suggestions for getting started

  • Go to PubMed
    • This is a database of medically-related journal articles.  Many of the journals we are interested in will NOT be available in the library.  You will probably need to use ILL (plan ahead!), but check the library collection first.  Just because you cannot get it online does not mean that we don’t have the article.  Often it is most useful to start with a review article. (A review article is one that summarizes the current state of knowledge on a particular issue.)

Cautions

    • Scrupulously avoid plagiarism.  If you take an idea from someone else, you MUST give them credit.   I take this very seriously.
    • Quotes are not generally used in scientific work. Rather, you should paraphrase what has been read in your own words and then clearly cite the reference that you used.
    • The posters should have dimensions of 36″ x 48″. I will take care of printing them. Be sure that your font is easily readable (anything smaller than 18 will be illegible).
    • Web sites will not be acceptable as citations except for those listed above.