AI creates cancer-fighting proteins that can "navigate like Google Maps" to tumors

Using a trio of different AI tools, the researchers created tens of thousands of artificial proteins, then selected the most optimal one that was able to bind tightly to melanoma cells.

Scientists have used artificial intelligence (AI) to design proteins that can guide immune cells to destroy skin cancer.

This is considered a "GPS positioning" system at the molecular level, helping T cells easily identify and accurately attack melanoma cancer cells, similar to the way Google Maps gives directions to a new location.

The new study, published in the journal Science on July 24, was conducted by scientists at the Technical University of Denmark. Using a trio of different AI tools, the researchers created tens of thousands of artificial proteins, then selected the most optimal protein that could bind tightly to melanoma cells.

When this protein was introduced into T cells, the immune cells quickly detected and destroyed cancer cells and prevented tumor growth in the laboratory.

These proteins were designed using the same technique used to predict protein structures that won the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

The unique feature of this method is that protein design takes only one to two days, and actual testing takes place in just a few weeks, much faster than current techniques which often take months.

The long-term goal of the project is to create effective immunotherapies that can even be customized for individual cancer patients, according to Timothy Jenkins, research leader at the Technical University of Denmark.

He stressed that this is an initial "proof-of-concept" study, but it has the potential to open up a new approach to cancer treatment.

Stanley Riddell, an immunotherapy expert at the Fred Hutch Cancer Center (Seattle, USA), said this discovery is "a remarkable step forward," showing the potential of applying AI in the medical field to create completely new treatments not only for cancer but also for many other diseases.

Although the results are still in the early stages of testing and will require many years to be tested on animals as well as clinical trials on humans, this research is expected to become an effective tool in the cancer treatment "toolbox" of the future./.

(TTXVN/Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/ai-tao-protein-tri-ung-thu-biet-dinh-vi-nhu-google-maps-toi-khoi-u-post1052201.vnp