Potential of cryo-EM could revolutionize medicine

One of Asia's best-equipped centers for cryo-electron microscopy, or cryo-EM, at the Southern University of Science and Technology was one of the reasons Liao Maofu joined the university in August after studying and working abroad for more than 20 years.

"I hope I can use the technique of cryo-EM to catalyze a new type of incubator for innovative drugs in the region I am working now," said Liao, chair professor of the School of Life Sciences of SUSTech.

He has been exploring the fascinating world brought by cryo-EM after gaining his PhD degree from Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the United States in 2006.

This tool in structural biology embeds biological samples in vitreous ice — ice that has been frozen from room temperature to about — 185 C in milliseconds — that keeps the samples in their original, native state.

With cryo-EM, biological macromolecules of the samples can be imaged at high resolution so that researchers can discover molecular structures and understand their mechanisms.

"For example, we could study the process of virus infection in human cells through cryo-EM, which could inspire us to invent more effective drugs," Liao told China Daily.

It has been a widely used tool to discover how viruses including COVID-19 and Zika infect their hosts and this valuable information could help invent vaccines and contribute to new medicines.

In addition, cryo-EM technology is expected to improve the efficiency and success rate of drug discovery as well as lower its cost, according to Liao.

A crucial reason for the high cost and long development cycle of new drugs was the incomplete screening for lead compounds in the early stages, he said.

"Researchers picked one or two candidate drugs from limited screenings and then pushed them to clinical trials," Liao said.

"But as cryo-EM becomes more popular, it will become more routine to directly analyze the structures of small molecule-bound target protein complexes, and then computationally expand the space of chemical molecules."

He continued: "So we may screen out more lead compounds and compounds with more modes of action in the early stage. Thus, the drug research failure risk, the medicine development cycle and the cost are likely to be reduced greatly."

He believes Shenzhen, a southern Chinese city full of vitality with a strong capability in manufacturing and technological applications, could be the place to fulfill his dream to do something special.

SUSTech, an emerging research university in Shenzhen, also lends great support to him.

"The university's educational philosophy is new and great, the cryo-EM center is amazing and I can do more here at SUSTech," Liao said.

Though he has worked for SUSTech for just a few months and his research team is still forming, some pharmaceutical companies started to contact him.

"We might set up collaborations with companies that are making new classes of drugs in the future. But more excitingly, I hope I will build an incubator to boost the whole industry," Liao noted.

Xiao Chenxi contributed to this story.