Investigating the molecular basis for binding, specificity and ligand release in fatty acid binding proteins.

Projektdetaljer

Beskrivelse

The human epidermal fatty acid binding protein (he-FABP) is highly up-regulated in kerationcytes of patients suffering from psoriases. Fatty acid binding proteins (FABPs) in general are known to be responsible for intracellular transport of fatty acids. However, the physiological role of FABPs in general and he-FABP in particular is unclear. In this project we investigate the mechanism of binding and release of fatty acids to he-FABP and evolve the protein towards preferred binding to specifically biological relevant long chain fatty acids. The ability to identify the effect of a particular ensemble of residues on binding affinity would make possible, e.g., the rational design of future drug compounds that will or will not bind with high specificity to a particular FABP type, or even the design of FABPs engineered for a given pharmaceutical ligand. (Eva Marie Petersen, Peter Fojan, Steffen B. Petersen, Mikka S. Hansen)
StatusAfsluttet
Effektiv start/slut dato19/05/201019/05/2014