Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) and Trinity University have announced plans to study Thermus thermophilus, a thermal bacterium with highly stable proteins. 

The plan is to advance scientific understanding of stability mechanisms that could pave the way for advanced treatments for diseases such as Alzheimer’s, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and cancer.  

The project is supported by SwRI and Trinity through a new grant programme designed to encourage collaborative research. 

Thermus thermophilus is extremely heat tolerant and produces thermostable enzymes and proteins. Originally isolated from a thermal vent in a hot spring, it is a model organism for genetic manipulation, structural genomics and systems biology. 

Dr Jonathan Bohmann, a staff scientist at SwRI, and Dr Laura Hunsicker-Wang, a chemistry professor at Trinity University, will explore the structure of Rieske proteins found in T. thermophilus and a variety of plants, animals and bacteria. SwRI and Trinity will study them both in a natural state and after inducing mutations to one of its amino acid strings in the lab. 

“For SwRI’s part, we’re working to determine a baseline for how mutations or changes in a protein can degrade stability,” said Bohmann. “Nearly any structural change will affect the stability of a protein, but some mutation sites are more relevant than others. We want to understand those changes and if small molecules could bind to those sites to restore stability.” 

The team will use the SwRI-developed Rhodium molecular docking software to screen compounds that could prevent or reverse instability by attaching to Rieske proteins at binding sites along its crystal structure. The goal is to better understand how the Rieske proteins of T. thermophilus can maintain stability at various conditions from room temperature up to 179.6 degrees Fahrenheit. Researchers will also work to identify the protein’s role in energy production.

Diana Turner, Deputy Editor, DDW