Patent ID: 7177766
Filing Date: 2007-02-13
Classification: C07K,C12N,C12Q,G01N,G16B

Abstract:
1. A method of producing a zinc finger protein or a nucleic acid encoding the same, comprising: (a) providing a database comprising designations for a plurality of precharacterized zinc finger proteins, each protein comprising at least first, second and third fingers, and subdesignations for each of the three fingers of each of the zinc finger proteins, wherein at least one protein in the database has a third finger that is different from the third finger of at least one other protein in the database; a corresponding nucleic acid sequence for each zinc finger protein, each sequence comprising at least first, second and third triplets specifically bound by the at least first, second and third fingers respectively in each zinc finger protein, the first, second and third triplets being arranged in the nucleic acid sequence (3′–5′) in the same respective order as the first, second and third fingers are arranged in the zinc finger protein (N-terminal to C-terminal); (b) providing a preselected target site for design of a zinc finger protein, the target site comprising contiguous first, second and third triplets in a 3′–5′ order, (c) for the first, second and third triplet in the target site, identifying first, second and third sets of zinc finger protein(s) in the database, the first set comprising zinc finger protein(s) comprising a finger specifically binding to the first triplet in the target site, the second set comprising zinc finger protein(s) comprising a finger specifically binding to the second triplet in the target site, the third set comprising zinc finger protein(s) comprising a finger specifically binding to the third triplet in the target site; (d) outputting designations and subdesignations of the zinc finger proteins in the first, second, and third sets identified in step (c); and (e) producing (i) a zinc finger protein that binds to the target site comprising a first finger from a zinc finger protein from the first set, a second finger from a zinc finger protein from the second set, and a third finger from a zinc finger protein from the third set, or (ii) a nucleic acid encoding the zinc finger protein.