Belfort Lab Publication highlighted in BioWorld

Researchers from the State University of New York (SUNY) at Albany have identified small molecules that could inhibit intein self-splicing from the protein PrP8 in the fungal pathogens Cryptococcus neoformans and Cryptococcus gattii, emerging pathogens that can cause fungal meningitis in immunocompromised patients.

The team published its findings in the January 4, 2021, online issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The function of inteins is still largely a mystery. But where they occur, they are "most commonly found in proteins that are critical to cell survival, so splicing inhibitors kill the cell," senior author Marlene Belfort told BioWorld Science.