Gridcoin and diseases. Do you know what do they have in common? GPUgrid.
Well... time for medicine and medical science again. Do you know how to help medicine with your computer right from your home or office? It's easy, of course with the help of Gridcoin and BOINC.
Do you know which proteins are called intrinsically disordered (IDPs)? They are proteins, that are not naturally structured. Of course, that doesn't mean, that they are not important. Oppositely, they do have many great roles in cell biology that are not completely understood. Many cancers "host" such mutated proteins at places that control the expression of genes and communication within the cell. Project GPUgrid have already shown that IDPs known as phosphorylation sometimes are in charge of causing one IDP know as KID to change it's way of reaction. This, of course, could have important consequences for protein interactions, which affects the way of passing signals through the cells.
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The way how a protein looks
By computer modelling were found some very important connections. One mutation of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) has recently been proven to be the cause of resistance to cetuximab, which is heavily used drug in one type of cancer treatment. All the binding free energies have been modeled and proven, and further work of the project scientists provides some mechanisms of resistance, which are really possible, in terms of increased competition. This hypothesis can be further validated experimentally in the borders of the project itself.
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Mutated Cancer cells
Protein related interactions are dominated by a domain, called SH2, and it plays a great role in the communication between cells about their growth and development. However, the final aim for running the project simulations is not exactly to expand the knowledge on already known working systems, but to use them like a model for finding new methods of calculation the binding affinities between proteins. These methods will surely help medicine to proceed in its battle against the most scary diseases, known nowadays.
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Protein structure
So why not say NO to pointless hashing? Medicine needs us and we can combine our efforts in order to build a better world. That's what makes Gridcoin different and that's why it needs our help. Let's show, that we care about our world.
Gridcoin and BOINC are with us.
See ya!
Sources:
https://www.gpugrid.net/- The main website of the project, source of information.
https://www.gridcoin.us/ and https://gridcoin.science/ - official Gridcoin websites.
https://boinc.berkeley.edu/ - BOINC client instructions and download.
Photos from Google search engine.