Scientific Illustration

freshphotons:

“Knitted Protein Model: Josie Parker, College of Medicine

The image shows a knitted model of an enzyme called CYP51. Certain antifungal compounds act by binding directly to CYP51, inhibiting its activity. Mutations in CYP51 can cause resistance to certain compounds used to treat fungal infections – which are an important problem in medicine and agriculture.

A single change in the amino acid sequence which makes up CYP51 can cause resistance because it changes the 3D shape of the protein. I study how the affinity for antifungal compounds to CYP51 is changed by these mutations. Furthering our understanding of these changes may aid the design of better antifungals and even predict resistance that may emerge in the future.

Picture credit: Josie Parker, Swansea University”