Patent ID: 6904369

Claim:
A method of preparing a compound capable of binding to a Stem Cell Factor-binding site of a Stem Cell Factor receptor comprising the steps of: a) determining the 3-D structure of a fragment of a Stem Cell Factor (SCF) by computing atomic co-ordinates from X-ray diffraction data of a crystal of the fragment of SCF, wherein the fragment of SCF consists of consecutive amino acids the sequence of which is set forth in SEQ ID NO:1; b) identifying a Stem Cell Factor receptor-binding site on the fragment of SCF based on the 3-D structure of the SCF fragment; c) designing a compound capable of binding to the Stem Cell Factor-binding site of the Stem Cell Factor receptor based on a 3-D structure shape complementarity or estimated interaction energy of the Stem Cell Factor receptor-binding site on the fragment of SCF; and d) preparing the compound capable of binding to the Stem Cell Factor-binding site of the Stem Cell Factor receptor designed in step c).