Durban — A Mangosuthu University of Technology (MUT) lecturer was awarded a PhD in Medical Biochemistry by the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), making anticancer finds.
MUT Faculty of Natural Sciences organic chemistry lecturer Dr Ayanda Magwenyane, 31, said it was a dream come true to graduate with a PhD from UKZN.
Magwenyane’s study employed a molecular dynamic simulation approach to explore heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) as an anti-cancer target for drug discovery.
His study found three new potent Hsp90 inhibitors (ZINC15905860, ZINC13120102 and ZINC20411962) to be stable in the binding site. Society stands to benefit from this research as it contributes to an overview of computational models used in the development of anticancer medicines.
Passionate about saving lives, Magwenyane explained that although cancer is a complicated disease, most human cancers share basic features such as self-supply of growth signals, resistance to growth inhibitors, evasion of programmed cell death, unlimited replication potential, prolonged angiogenesis, and tissue invasion and metastasis.
Co-supervised by senior lecturers in medicinal chemistry at UKZN, Drs Hezekiel Kumalo and Ndumiso Mhlongo, Magwenyane’s novel research was informed by a remarkable number of Hsp90 client proteins being involved in the development of cancer cell characteristics.
“Hsp90 is a molecular chaperone that is conserved from bacteria to humans and facilitates the maturation of substrates (or clients) that are involved in many different cellular pathways,” Magwenyane said.
“It was not an easy journey. The Covid-19 pandemic broke out in the middle of the study, and much motivation was required to keep going amid the trauma and the lockdowns.”
Magwenyane added that his supervisors kept him motivated.
“I also made sure I participated in the workshops and retreats offered by UKZN to learn how to succeed and survive while studying,” Magwenyane said.
Magwenyane is from the rural community of eNadi, KwaMnyandu in Pietermaritzburg. A devout Christian, when not hard at work, he enjoys reading and watching informative documentaries and movies.
“I also like to talk to young people, motivating them that they should always strive to become better than yesterday,” Magwenyane said.
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