Patent ID: 7584059

Claim:
A method of designing a ligand having specific binding affinity for the C H 2-C H 3 cleft of an immunoglobulin molecule having bound antigen, said method comprising: a) providing data to a specifically programmed computer, said data comprising the atomic coordinates of the amino acid residues at positions 252, 253, 435, and 436 within said C H 2-C H 3 cleft, and said computer having a computer program capable of generating an atomic model of a molecule from said atomic coordinate data; b) generating with said computer an atomic model of said C H 2-C H 3 cleft; c) providing to said computer data comprising the atomic coordinates of a candidate compound; d) generating with said computer an atomic model of said candidate compound optimally positioned in said C H 2-C H 3 cleft; e) outputting to a display said atomic model of said candidate compound optimally positioned in said C H 2-C H 3 cleft; f) determining whether said optimally positioned candidate compound interacts with said amino acid residues within said C H 2-C H 3 cleft; and g) identifying said candidate compound as a ligand having specific binding affinity for said C H 2-C H 3 cleft if said candidate compound interacts with said amino acid residues.