Nagoya University researchers and colleagues have improved understanding of the molecular mechanisms of a key protein that makes the stomach acidic. Their findings, published in the journal Nature Communications, could lead to better drugs for stomach ulcers and shed light on the functions of similar proteins across the human body. “This gastric protein pumps in acidic ions to fortify our stomach, which is important for digestion but can sometimes lead to ulcers. Our results improve our understanding of how these types of proteins work, and we expect them to have further applications in drug development,” says Kazuhiro Abe, a protein crystallographer at Nagoya University who led the research.
The H+/K+ ATPase protein is an enzyme that pumps hydrogen ions (H+) into the stomach to help digestion and kill any bugs we might swallow with our food and drink. However, excessive stomach…
