Researchers use AI to design proteins that cut up other proteins
Summary
Ars Technica reports on using AI to design proteases that can cut specific proteins. The work leverages RFdiffusion2 to build enzyme backbones, ProteinMPNN to select amino acids, and AlphaFold3 to validate structures, achieving measurable catalytic activity in several designs. The study demonstrates notable activity improvements through iterative mutations and highlights both therapeutic potential and significant delivery and safety challenges.