Patent ID: 7169563

Claim:
A method for identifying a member of a mass-coded molecular library which is a ligand for a biomolecule and binds to the biomolecule at the binding site of a known second ligand for the biomolecule, said method comprising the steps of: (a) contacting the biomolecule with a mass-coded molecular library, said mass-coded molecular library comprising compounds of the general formula XY n , wherein n is an integer from 2 to about 6, X is a scaffold and each Y is, independently, a peripheral moiety, wherein there exist at least about 250 distinct combinations of n peripheral moieties, and wherein each of at least about 90% of the combinations of n peripheral moieties has a molecular mass sum that is distinct from the molecular mass sum of all other combinations of n peripheral moieties, whereby members of the mass-coded molecular library which are ligands for the biomolecule bind to the biomolecule to form biomolecule-ligand complexes and members of the mass-coded library which are not ligands for the biomolecule remain unbound; (b) separating the biomolecule-ligand complexes from the unbound members of the mass-coded molecular library; (c) contacting the biomolecule-ligand complexes with the second ligand to dissociate biomolecule-ligand complexes in which the ligand binds to the biomolecule at the binding site of the second ligand, thereby forming biomolecule-second ligand complexes and dissociated ligands; (d) separating the dissociated ligands and biomolecule-second ligand complexes; and (e) determining the molecular mass of each dissociated ligand, wherein the molecular mass of each dissociated ligand corresponds to a set of peripheral moieties present in that ligand, thereby identifying a member of the mass-coded molecular library which is a ligand for the biomolecule and binds to the biomolecule at the binding site of the known second ligand for the biomolecule.