h a l f b a k e r yAlmost as great as sliced bread.
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antibodies can recognize vast numbers of things, here the practicioner make antibodies to anything, then just attentively notes the structure of the Y shaped branch tips ' ' that actually do the recognition (receptor attachment).
Those ' ' being defined proteins the practicioner then scripts a gene
to produce them. This has two effects the mass production of a new protein drug, as well as creating a sequence that if placed at an animals genome becomes an artificial capability gene.
lets say you want to create new neurotransmitters to give humans an entirely new range of feeling, intelligence, behavior. You make Y antibodies to known neurotransmitters, sequence the receptor active tips ' '
then create variations of those proteins to have new protein drugs that affect known neurotransmitters.
Then as these protein sequences are defined you can actually code them as organism genes so the newly engineered creature actually has new protein neutrotransmitters. You do this kind of thing as you have read that a variation on the COMT gene makes people twice as happy, thus a native form of new neurotransmitter activator is a new synthetic happiness gene.
Similarly the drug rapamycin makes mammals live longer via the mTOR pathways. make Y antibodies to mTOR kinase then script the ' ' branch tips as genes to create custom genetic control over aging.
The Y branch tips ' ' have another feature: drug effect localization. I have seen image maps of where antibodies attach to receptors at a tissue. The antibodies concentrate at different areas, researchers color the attached antibodies, then publish whats where maps. Now if you make a big database of where the ' ' accumulate, then you have an area as well as tissue location atlas. You attach the ' ' branch tips to another drug then using the atlas you have a fairly good way of knowing where the branchtip drug combo will locate at the body where local enzymes could release the drug to effect local area treatment.
Scientists may also like the way a ' ' gene switch is kind of like creating a adjustable response KO mouse to do many new kinds of research as well.
mTOR pathways
http://en.wikipedia...target_of_rapamycin
[beanangel, Jun 20 2011]
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Annotation:
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The idea of expressing only the CDRs (the "tips" of
the antibodies, which do the binding) has been
done a lot. It turns out that you need a certain
amount of the antibody structure in order to keep
the CDR loops in the right configuration - the CDRs
alone are relatively short peptides which won't
hold a structure by themselves. Domantis (which
came out of my boss's lab) has reduced these
"tips" about as far as possible, making single-
domain antibodies. |
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When it comes to using binding moieties as
effector molecules, it's a bit hit and miss. For
instance, an antibody (or antibody fragment) that
binds a neurotransmitter won't be a
neurotransmitter itself. Likewise, an antibody
that binds a receptor won't necessarily activate
that receptor in the same way that its target
molecule will. (In fact, more often than not, the
antibody will stabilise the receptor in its
"inactive" configuration.) |
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// more often than not, the antibody will stabilise
the receptor in its "inactive" configuration// Just as
likely to be useful. |
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reading this makes me want to scream and tear at my clothes (+) |
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I appreciate the annotations. Improvements on the way. |
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reading this makes me want to scream and tear at WcW's clothes. [ ] |
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//an entirely new range of feeling, intelligence, behavior// |
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It's the Zombie Apocalypse! |
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