Mutated Enzymes, Might Treat Cocaine Addiction

Cocaine Comes from the Coca Plant. Microbes that Live in the Soil Near this Plant, Produce an Enzyme Called, 'Cocaine Esterase', which Allows them to Break Down and "Eat" the Cocaine Very Quickly. It's Fast Enough to Use to Treat Cocaine Drug Overdoses and Maybe Even as an Addiction Treatment. Scientists Have Begun to Test Methods to Make the Drug Effective in the Human Body. Knowledge of 'Cocaine Esterase' Hasn’t been Helpful in Creating a Treatment like this, because the Enzyme’s Half-Life is Only about 12 Minutes at Human Body Temperature. That's Not Long Enough for it to Clear Out the Cocaine in an Overdose Patient's Body. So, a Group of Researchers from the University of Kentucky Started Tinkering with the Enzyme. In 2008, they Managed to Make a Modified Cocaine Esterase that, Lasted 6 Hours at Body Temperature, which Might be Long Enough to Handle a Drug Overdose. But, the Researchers Wanted an Enzyme that Could also Treat Addiction, by Preventing Cocaine from Giving the User a High to Begin with.


That would Have to be Something that Lasted in the Body for a Very Long Time. So, they Created a Computer Model of the Enzyme and Simulated its Exposure to High Temperatures. They Looked for the Weak Points of the Enzyme: those Parts that Unraveled First. They Applied Mutations to those Areas in the Enzyme’s Cysteine Aminoacids, Creating a Disulfide Bond. The End Result is a Huge Breakthrough for Rational Drug Design: the Enzyme’s New Half-Life is 100 Days and its Cocaine-Eating Ability is Up by a Whopping 150%. The Research Team Now Believes that, their New Altered Version of the Enzyme Won't Only be Useful as a Treatment for Cocaine Overdoses but also, as a Helpful Tool to Battle Addiction to the Drug. However, they Stressed the Need for Additional Research to Test if the Enzyme is Fast Enough to Destroy the Cocaine before the Brain is Affected by it. Meanwhile, Other Cures for Addiction are Being Tested and New Procedures Might Aid Recovery.




Info Source:

http://www.popsci.com/article/science/altered-microbial-enzyme-eats-cocaine-could-treat-addiction