A new source of bivalent molecules from nature

该项目旨在描述一类新的自然发生的多价分子称为分泌半胱氨酸富重复蛋白（screp）。多价性是生物学中分子相互作用的关键特征，是许多蛋白质具有高特异性和效力的基础。以二价肽为重点，该项目将建立一个与已知生物活性肽相似的生物活性screp数据库，并开发新的重组方法来生产它们。该项目将使用先进的核磁共振波谱技术来表征这一新类别的成员，为二价和多价肽的设计提供新的见解，并在快速发展的生物技术领域建立新的分子来源。

This project aims to describe a new class of naturally occurring multivalent molecules termed secreted cysteine-rich repeat proteins (SCREPs). Multivalency is a key feature of molecular interaction in biology, underlying the high specificity and potency found in many proteins. Focusing on bivalent peptides, the project will generate a database of bioactive SCREPs with similarity to known bioactive peptides, and develop new recombinant methods for their production. The project will use advanced nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy to characterise members of this new class, providing new insights into the design of bivalent and multivalent peptides and establishing a new source of molecules with applications in the rapidly growing biotechnology sector.