The membranes of our bodies’ cells contain signaling proteins called receptors. By interacting with peptides, drugs, hormones, and other molecules, receptors control the cell’s response to its environment. These protein interactions are implicated in diseases like cancer. But scientists don’t fully understand them, which has limited the development of effective drugs.

With the new “fully quantified spectral imaging” method, the researchers can determine if and exactly how the proteins interact in cell membranes. That paves the way for developing techniques to inhibit harmful interactions—an exciting implication for drug development.

Excerpted from JHU Engineering magazine