While the word “binding” might suggest a protein that binds other proteins on a surface, what it really means is that it binds other single stranded DNA molecules. The binding of two strands of DNA together is called a double stranded DNA molecule.
For scientists, binding proteins are some of the most exciting findings in molecular biology, as they can hold the key to how cells process information in the brain. As we’ve learned, the human brain is made mostly of DNA, and the most important cells, the neurons, use the double stranded DNA molecules to communicate and interact with one another.
Scientists have found that a protein called single stranded binding protein (SSBP) can bind two strands of DNA tightly enough to hold them in a single DNA molecule, or a double stranded molecule. The reason it does this is because the SSBP is basically a double stranded DNA binding protein.
Because the two strands of DNA are so closely intertwined, it is also difficult to separate them without destroying one or both strand of DNA, but scientists have discovered that it is possible to sever the two strands of DNA by cutting the protein strand into smaller pieces that can then be separated. The scientists have also created a way to use single stranded binding protein as a DNA binding drug.
The process is called “single stranded DNA binding protein” and is a pretty simple one. It involves cutting the DNA with a pair of scissors and then cutting the protein strand with a pair of scissors. If you have the DNA binding drug in solution, you can then attach it to the DNA and bind to that DNA.
The idea is that you can use this drug to kill cancer cells, especially colon cancer cells. This would be a much more powerful weapon against colon cancer than the traditional chemo. One study found that it can kill up to 90 percent of colon cancer cells.
So just as chemo is used to kill specific types of cancer cells, single stranded binding protein is used to kill specific types of cells. This isn’t just a new drug though, this is a new way of killing cancer cells.
It’s one of the most talked about new cancer treatments out there, and it’s been in trials for a few years now (although the research has been done at other labs as well). It actually works by binding a protein called EGF, which is a growth factor. When this binding goes wrong, the EGF starts to bind to DNA and the DNA then starts to grow. The result? A deadly cancer cell grows, which is what we want to do.
There are two main types of cells in the body, which we can divide into, and they are white blood cells (WBCs). These cells are very important to our immune system, but when they start to work too hard they can start to destroy healthy cells. We call these cancer cells “bad” cells, and they destroy healthy cells, so they are also called cancer cells.
The good news is that EGF, an important growth factor, is made in the liver. So if we can take this away, then we can actually start to stop those bad cells from growing.
