Hormonal imbalances may now be cured with an immune molecule isolated from cows
Posted on: 09/Feb/2015 2:42:45 PM
We consider cows as sacred. We are praising them. Now there is one more news to praise them more. According to American scientists the hormonal imbalances may now be cured with an immune molecule isolated from cows which gives rise to potential therapeutic uses of this molecule. A study recently revealed that human hormones and antibodies can be fused together – mimicking long, stalk-like cow antibodies.
Tao Liu, research associate at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) in the US said, ‘We were inspired by this unique structure found in nature, and we assembled an antibody that might one day benefit humans.’
For example, many people need injections of human growth hormone (hGH) to combat conditions such as Turner syndrome (which causes short stature in females), low birth weight and other hormone deficiencies. Unfortunately, the body degrades hGH quickly, sometimes within 30 minutes. Antibodies, however, can last for weeks in the body. The bovine antibody has an unusual structure – a round base with a long amino-acid ‘stalk’ pointing out. On the top of the stalk is a ‘knob region’ that presumably binds to pathogens.
The researchers fused hGH to a coiled version of the bovine antibody’s stalks. This fusion was stable and maintained the function of hGH.
