Washington University and Syracuse Researchers Unveil Tool to Design Disordered Proteins

Scientists from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Syracuse University have created a platform that can design intrinsically disordered proteins at large scale. The method enables synthetic production of protein regions that lack a stable three‑dimensional structure, which make up about 70% of human proteins and play key roles in cellular processes and diseases such as cancer and neurodegeneration.

The researchers, led by associate professor Alex Holehouse and faculty instructor Ryan Emenecker, described the tool in a Nature paper published on July 29. By allowing systematic exploration of sequence‑function relationships in disordered regions, the platform is expected to accelerate basic biology research and aid the development of new therapeutics.