WIREDGOV

Scientists working to design advanced medicines that are perfectly targeted to control the body’s natural receptors have made a major discovery.

For the first time, they have been able to visualise and study the structure of CRF1, the protein receptor in the brain which controls our response to stress.

The level of detail required for this work could only be achieved using the intense synchrotron light produced at the STFC funded Diamond Light Source, the UK’s synchrotron science facility in Oxfordshire.

Heptares Therapeutics, an MRC spin out company, was responsible for identifying the 3D structure of the ‘stress’ receptor. This discovery will help scientists to develop improved treatments for depression and anxiety.

Furthermore, having identified the architecture of CRF1, scientists now have a template that can be used to accelerate research into other protein receptors that are known to be in the same ‘family’, including those that can be targeted to treat Type 2 diabetes and osteoporosis.

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