PROTEIN DE-NOVO DESIGN - MACROMOLECULES WITH TAILORMADE PROPERTIES

In the absence of a detailed knowledge of the folding mechanism of nat ural proteins, the general design of polypeptide sequences with a high propensity to fold into a predetermined three dimensional structure s till appears to be out of reach. The concept of Template Assembled Syn thetic Proteins (TASP) represents a means by which one call nonetheles s construct macromolecules with native-like structural features, with the result that systems with tailormade structural and functional prop erties are non becoming attainable.