It's the way you tell 'em

Scientists are turning to catchy phrases to help people understand what an enzyme is and what it does, writes Dick Ahlstrom

A group of Trinity College researchers have turned to marketing to get across important ideas in science. They hope it will end the confusion that for many people surrounds terms such as gene, enzyme and protein.

"Genes meanz nanomachines" is the catchphrase adopted by Dr Tim Mantle of Trinity's school of biochemistry and immunology. He believes it will help people grasp the meaning behind modern biochemistry research.

"If you say protein to someone in the general public they think it has something to do with nutrition," says Mantle. And if you say enzyme, many know terms like amylase from secondary school but still link it to diet and how well we eat.

He wants people to view proteins and enzymes as tiny machines working away on our behalf. They move things into and out of cells, regulate body chemistry, moderate brain biochemistry to affect mood and perform countless other functions. Without them we couldn't survive, and when the nanomachines are missing or not working properly, disease is the result.

The nano he refers to relates to entities no more than a few billionths of a metre, a nanometre, across. On this scale a virus is a huge entity at 50 to 100 nanometres. A standard protein might be 10 nanometres, he says.

The gene is the source or manufacturing plant for the nanomachine. The gene holds the genetic blueprint to produce the nanomachine released into the cell.

"Everything that is dynamic in our existence is done by a nanomachine," he says. We depend on these nanomachines to keep us healthy.

He cites as an example the disease cystic fibrosis (CF), caused by a single gene fault. This fault causes thick mucus to build up in the lungs of sufferers, making breathing difficult but also providing an opportunity for infections.

"We are asking people to take on board that when you talk about the CF gene you are talking about a little nanomachine," says Mantle. The nanomachine in this case is a tiny pump that pushes salt out of the cells lining the lungs, which in turn discharges water into the lungs to help keep the tissues moist. If the pump isn't working the mucus becomes too thick and the typical CF symptoms arise.

Mantle presented the Genes Meanz Nanomachines message last week at a session of the BA Festival of Science at Trinity called Enzymes As Nanomachines. As part of the talk, he described a small nanomachine enzyme about five nanometres across that could produce the Irish flag.

The BVR enzyme (Biliverdin reductase) changes the green bile pigment, biliverdin, into the yellow/orange pigment, bilirubin, the substance that tints the skin yellow in those with jaundice. Against a white background the colours of the flag emerge.

The research is about more than just playing with colours, however. BVR looks like a useful target for treatments aimed at neonatal jaundice and the rare genetic deficiency disease, Crigler- Najjar syndrome.

Another nanomachine of interest to Mantle and his colleagues is monoamine oxidase, an enzyme that mops up amines, very active substances arising from the foods we eat.

"It protects us from the amines we ingest," says Mantle.

If this nanomachine isn't working properly, one consequence can be changes in our behaviour, with a shift towards aggression, he adds.

The monoamine oxidase helps to control the messaging system in the brain based on serotonin, which moderates mood, emotions, sleep and appetite. If the monoamine oxidase isn't doing its job properly, mood changes are the result. "Some are linked to aggression," says Mantle.

Biochemistry focuses on these nanomachines and the genes that produce them, he explains. Future goals involve installing a replacement gene if a nanomachine is missing, or attempting to repair a nanomachine that is there but not working properly.

Dr Amir Khan, who uses a technique called crystallography to reveal the shapes of the nanomachines, is helping this work at Trinity. "He is studying the three-dimensional structure of the nanomachines," says Mantle.