title: Designer proteins to trigger cell death.
abstract: Efforts to generate biologically active proteins by de novo computational design have been limited to creating functional sites within pre-existing scaffolds. Procko et al. use an innovative computational design approach coupled with in-vitro-targeted evolution to produce a potent polypeptide inhibitor of a viral Bcl-2-like protein. This novel inhibitor triggers apoptosis of virus-infected cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Early Discovery Biochemistry, Genentech, Inc., 1 DNA Way, South San Francisco, CA 94080, USA. Electronic address: fairbrother.wayne@gene.com.
authors.forename: Wayne J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Fairbrother
authors.affiliation: Cancer Immunology, Genentech, Inc., 1 DNA Way, South San Francisco, CA 94080, USA. Electronic address: aa@gene.com.
authors.forename: Avi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ashkenazi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004854:Herpesvirus 4, Human / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D015202:Protein Engineering; D011506:Proteins / Q000494:pharmacology*; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors*
chemical_list: C083278:BHRF1 protein, Human herpesvirus 4; C000591254:BINDI protein; D011506:Proteins; D014764:Viral Proteins