Major discovery by Croatian scientist 'This is important for the development of new antibiotics and anti-cancer drugs” An international team of scientists led by prof. Nenad Ban recently published the detailed structure of the so-called Mitochondrial ribosomes in the online edition of the prestigious journal Science. This discovery is important for the development of more effective antibiotics and new drugs against cancer. - Mitochondrial ribosomes are responsible for protein synthesis in the mitochondria of our cells. Mitochondria play a key role in life because they are responsible for the production of cellular chemical energy. In addition, mitochondria control the process of cellular death and are associated with diseases such as cancer and normal cellular processes such as aging - explained Nenad Ban, professor of structural molecular biology at the prestigious ETH (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology) in Zurich. - The study of mitochondrial ribosomes will enable us to develop better antibiotics. Namely, in order to develop better antibiotics is important to know what bacterial ribosome and mitochondrial ribosomes look like, so as to prevent undesirable side effects of various antibiotics used clinically. Our results describe the reasons why some commonly used antibiotics, such as streptomycin and gentamicin, can lead to short-term hearing loss, and can lead to permanent hearing loss in people who are genetically predisposed it - said Ban. Streptomycin antibiotic treatments, which were often used to treat tuberculosis after World War II in many cases resulted in permanent damage to patient hearing aids. - The structure of mitochondrial ribosomes that we assessed using a new electron microscopy method, explains which part of the mitochondrial ribosomes these antibiotics bind to. Thanks to these findings, we could try to make changes so that, for example, streptomycin does not produce harmful side effects - said Ban. The discovery of its cluster opens the way to the development of new drugs that could specifically bind to the mitochondrial ribosome, which could be useful in the treatment of cancer. - In fact, tumor cells need a lot of energy and often have an increased amount of mitochondria. Therefore, these drugs could affect the targeted cancer cells - said Ban, who is one of the best Croatian scientists who live and work abroad. Nenad Ban was born in 1966 in Zagreb, where he finished High School number 5 and graduated in Biology, at the Faculty of Science (PMF). He received his PhD from the University of California at Riverside. During his post-doctorate at Yale, he was the first author of three papers on the structure of the ribosome that led his former boss Thomas Seitz to the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 2009. In late 2000, Nenad Ban accepted the offer of the ETH in Zurich, one of the world's best universities in the hard sciences, which gave a number of Nobel Prize winners, including Einstein, Ronetgena, Ruzicka and Prelog. To engage Ban, ETH had to change the rules that are in the position of assistant professor (docent) can hire scientists under the age of 35 years. Since 2007, Nenad Ban has the status of full professor at ETH. Translated by Marko Puljić

VELIKO OTKRIĆE HRVATSKOG ZNANSTVENIKA 'Ovo je važno za razvoj antibiotika i novih lijekova protiv raka' Međunarodni tim znanstvenika pod vodstvom prof. Nenada Bana objavio je nedavno u on-line izdanju prestižnog časopisa Science detaljnu strukturu tzv. mitohondrijskog ribosoma. Ovo otkriće važno je za razvoj učinkovitijih antibiotika i novih lijekova protiv raka. - Mitohondrijski ribosomi su odgovorni za sintezu proteina u mitohondrijima naših stanica. Mitohondriji imaju ključnu ulogu u životu jer su odgovorni za proizvodnju stanične kemijske energije. Osim toga, mitohondriji kontroliraju proces staničnog umiranja pa su povezani s bolestima poput tumora i normalnih staničnih procesa poput starenja - pojasnio je Nenad Ban, redoviti profesor strukturalne molekularne biologije na uglednom ETH (Švicarski federalni tehnološki institut) u Zürichu. - Proučavanje mitohondrijskih ribosoma omogućit će nam razvoj boljih antibiotika. Naime, da bi se razvili bolji antibiotici važno je znati kako izgleda bakterijski ribosom i mitohondrijski ribosom jer se tako mogu spriječiti nepoželjne popratne pojave raznih antibiotika koji se klinički koriste. Naši rezultati opisuju razloge zbog kojih određeni često korišteni antibiotici, na primjer streptomicin i gentamicin, mogu dovesti do kratkotrajnog gubitka sluha, a kod ljudi koji su genetski predisponirani može doći I do trajnog gubitka sluha - rekao je Ban. Tretmani antibiotikom streptomicinom, koji se nakon Drugog svjetskog rata često koristio za liječenje tuberkuloze, u mnogim su slučajevima rezultirali trajnim oštećenjem slušnog aparata kod pacijenata. - Struktura mitohondrijskog ribosoma koju smo mi odredili koristeći se novom metodom, elektronskom mikroskopijom, objašnjava na koji dio mitohondrijskog ribosoma se ti antibiotici vežu. Zahvaljujući tim spoznajama mogli bismo pokušati napraviti promjene tako da, primjerice, streptomicin ne stvara štetne popratne promjene - istaknuo je Ban. Otkriće njegove skupine otvara i put razvoju novih lijekova koji bi se mogli specifično vezati na mitohondrijski ribosom, a koji bi mogli bi biti korisni u liječenju raka. - Naime, tumorske stanice trebaju mnogo energije i često imaju povećanu količinu mitohondrija. Stoga bi takvi lijekovi mogli ciljano utjecati na stanice raka - kazao je Ban, koji je jedan od najboljih hrvatskih znanstvenika koji žive i rade u inozemstvu. Nenad Ban rođen je 1966. godine u Zagrebu gdje je završio Petu gimnaziju i diplomirao biologiju Prirodoslovno-matematičkom fakultetu (PMF). Doktorirao je na Sveučilištu California u Riversideu. Tijekom postdoktorata na Yaleu, bio je prvi autor tri rada o strukturi ribosoma koja su njegova tadašnjeg šefa Thomasa Seitza dovela do Nobelove nagrade za kemiju 2009. godine. Krajem 2000. godine Nenad Ban prihvatio je ponudu ETH-a u Zurichu, jednog od najboljih svjetskih sveučilišta u prirodnim i tehničkim znanostima koje je dalo niz nobelovaca uključujući i Einsteina, Ronetgena, Ružičku i Preloga. Kako bi angažirali Bana, na ETH su morali mijenjati pravilo prema kome se u zvanje asistent profesora (docent) ne može zaposliti znanstvenika mlađeg od 35 godina. Od 2007. godine Nenad Ban na ETH ima status redovitog profesora.