Issues

Ribbon representation of a homology model of the c-Met specific Anticalin PRS-110. Anticalins are engineered human lipocalins that represent a next generation class of drug molecules. The lipocalins have a structurally conserved β-barrel architecture that forms a cup-shaped ligand binding pocket that can accommodate small and large ligands. The β strands (blue) of the lipocalin form the base of the ligand-binding pocket and the entry of the pocket is comprised of four loops connecting the β strands. Novel, target-specific Anticalins are generated by engineering mutations (pink regions, PRS-110 mutations) within these four loops and then selecting variants with the desired binding activity. For details, see article by Olwill and colleagues on page 2459.