Computer-based design of novel signaling molecules with improved properties

We use an interdisciplinary approach combining computational chemistry, biophysics, and developmental biology to create new signaling activators and inhibitors. We have designed novel hematopoietic growth factors and antagonists of cancer-relevant signals, and their structures are in atomic-level agreement with our theoretical predictions. Strikingly, the growth factors are highly active and can induce the differentiation of blood cells in living zebrafish embryos. This strategy holds great promise to engineer signaling molecules with novel functionalities for future clinical applications.