Eleven years ago, serendipitously, I discovered a new molecule that showed anti-tumor properties. As my adviser reminded me yesterday we are half way into our patent life. It is has been an excruciatingly long journey trying to figure out the structure-made even more tough by the fact that we have no way of estimating its amount. So all we know is that it inhibits a protein and that is all we can use for measuring it or detecting it.
We made this darned thing from forty liter reaction. Dried it down and gave it for NMR. And you know what? The only signal we could see was from contaminants picked up during purification. I can see a signal which I think is from the inhibitor but it is so low that I have no clue what to do.
We are now back to the drawing board, trying to figure out how to purify it away from these contaminants. We think we have a way but will it work? That is a million dollar question.
Meantime, I know a lot more about this inhibitor. I know how it interacts with the protein and why does it inhibit it. I think I also know why it causes cell death though we are trying to finish up those experiments. But what I want to know-the structure of the molecule-is a journey that, I suspect, will continue for some more time.
In these three months I have made inhibitor from 80L reaction and still have nothing to show for it. I have purified protein about dozen times just to have it aggregate so that I cannot crystallize. It is absolutely frustrating but it was during such frustration that we discovered the inhibitor. I just have to keep myself reminding of that one fact and keep plodding.
3 comments:
That does seem frustrating. It must take a lot of perseverance -- most of my projects are much shorter in duration. Hope it turns out well.
Well, a good drug usually takes more than 20 to 30 years of research to get to the market. Of all the molecules discovered, less than 1% will make it to the market.
Most of the work is back breaking, repeating the same thing again and again...not fun at all. Most of the biologists, of all flavours, will tell you the same story that I am telling here.
20 to 30 years? Holy cow, I had no idea! Is this considered a problem, or do researchers accept that this is how it should be?
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