BINDING DOMAINS

摘要

2087095 9201787 PCTABS00010 This invention concerns binding domains e.g. single chain variable domains which are synthetic analogues of other single chain variable domains of members of an immunoglobulin family or superfamily. In the analogue, one or more amino acid residues is altered as compared to the other domain, so that the analogue is more hydrophilic than the natural domain. The altered amino acid is substituted with a residue which occurs in an analogous position in a member of an immunoglobulin family or superfamily. This increased hydrophilicity means that the synthetic analogue will show less non-specific binding than the natural domain. The analogue may retain the binding specificity of the natural domain. Alternatively, the complementarity determining regions may be altered to change the binding specificity. The invention also concerns methods for making these binding domains.