Hyderabad scientists discover ‘molecular glue’ that helps plants trap viruses
Hyderabad researchers at CCMB have discovered a “molecular glue” in plants that traps and disables viruses by forming protein condensates. The breakthrough, published in a leading journal, could aid crop protection and open new possibilities for treating human diseases.
Hyderabad: Researchers from Hyderabad have discovered a ‘molecular glue’ that plants use to physically trap and disable viruses. The breakthrough, published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, not only explains how crops survive viral infections but also opens new doors for treating diseases like dementia and cancer in humans.
Scientists from Hyderabad-based Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CSIR-CCMB), have provided a first-ever molecular-level look at how plants physically disable invading pathogens.
The study, led by senior scientist Dr. Mandar V. Deshmukh and his team unravels a dynamic process utilised by plants to protect themselves from viral infections.
The ability to trap viral infections through sticky patches has vast potential in agriculture and medicine. In humans, this mechanism could be used to design drugs that dissolve neurotoxic clumps associated with dementia or dismantle the protective liquid barriers surrounding growing tumors, CCMB researchers on Wednesday said.
Scientists can now also explore designing crop varieties with enhanced natural immunity. By strengthening these protein traps, researchers hope to protect plants from viral outbreaks that currently cause billions of dollars in global crop losses.
Traditionally, scientists believed that plant defense proteins acted like a simple ‘lock and key’, latching onto the double-stranded RNA found in many viruses. However, using advanced techniques like Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and molecular dynamics simulations, the CCMB team discovered a far more dynamic process.
CCMB researchers identified a unique fold in specific RNA-binding proteins, which creates ‘sticky patches’ of electric charges on the protein’s surface. As positive and negative charges attract, these proteins bind to one another, forming an interconnected mesh.
The protein mesh creates dense, liquid-like, gel-like droplets known as biomolecular condensates. The droplets act as molecular glue, effectively swarming and trapping the viral RNA, study said.
By encasing the virus’s genetic material at Viral Replication Complexes, the proteins prevent it from interacting with the machinery needed to divide. Unable to replicate its genetic material, the virus fails to spread to other cells.
“This discovery shifts our understanding of the living cell. Rather than just a collection of static, membrane-bound compartments, the cell is now seen as a dynamic environment where membraneless organelles form spontaneously, much like oil droplets in water,” Dr Deshmukh says.
