Long road to building a better painkiller gets boost at U of S synchrotron
The dream is a big one: making opioid painkillers that are less addictive and adapting opioids into other medicines such as antibiotics and cancer treatments.
That dream is still years away from becoming reality. But it's one important step closer after groundbreaking research at the Canadian Light Source (CLS) at the University of Saskatchewan.
Dr. Ken Ng, a professor at the University of Windsor and adjunct professor at the University of Calgary, and Sam Carr, a PhD student from the University of Calgary, worked with Peter Facchini’s group at the University of Calgary to better understand how natural opiates are produced.
They focused on the enzyme codeinone reductase (COR), which is used in the last stage of opiate production in poppies. The researchers used the CMCF beamline to map out a 3D structure of COR.
They found that part of its structure is unique compared to related enzymes. Armed with this blueprint, they can start to modify that structure to change the enzyme's properties.
However, enzyme engineering is hard to do, Carr said.
"We have a three-dimensional structure and we can start looking at where things are, and try to change things and what happens is that we change things and it doesn't really do what we thought it would. So it's a very iterative process."
Still, knowing COR's structure has already allowed the team to make a small, successful change to how it works.
"I think it's misleading if people expect, 'oh, we'll have a better form of morphine in five years' or something. That's almost guaranteed not to happen," Ng said.
"But by understanding these things, at least you have a start towards changing these things in ways that you can't really do in a poppy or natural plants that make these kinds of drugs."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Pilot reported fire onboard plane carrying fuel, attempted to return to Fairbanks just before crash
One of the two pilots aboard an airplane carrying fuel reported there was a fire on the airplane shortly before it crashed and burned outside Fairbanks, killing both people on board, a federal aviation official said Wednesday.
'One of the single most terrifying things ever': Ontario couple among passengers on sinking tour boat in Dominican Republic
A Toronto couple are speaking out about their 'extremely dangerous' experience on board a sinking tour boat in the Dominican Republic last week.
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
7 surveillance videos linked to extortions of South Asian home builders in Edmonton released
The Edmonton Police Service has released a number of surveillance videos related to a series of extortion cases in the city now dubbed 'Project Gaslight.'
Ukraine uses long-range missiles secretly provided by U.S. to hit Russian-held areas, officials say
Ukraine for the first time has begun using long-range ballistic missiles provided secretly by the United States, bombing a Russian military airfield in Crimea last week and Russian forces in another occupied area overnight, American officials said Wednesday.