Biomolecular Recognition: The Current Challenge

50 pagesBiomolecules essentially fulfill their function through continual recognition of and binding to other molecules. Biomolecular recognition is therefore a phe- nomenon of prominent importance. When the progress of monoclonal antibody technology and genetic engineering allowed biologists to characterize and iso- late an impressive variety of receptor molecules, it was first felt that affinity constants and kinetic rates provided a satisfactory account of receptor-ligand interactions. However, a number of advances that occurred during the last two decades showed that i) the conventional framework was not sufficient to predict the behaviour of biomolecules in many physiologically relevant situations, ii) a number of techniques allowed investigators to dissect biomolecule interactions at the single bond level and obtain new information on the kinetic and mechanical properties of these interactions, iii) new theoretical techniques and the devel- opment of computer simulation as well as the enormous increase of available structural data provided new avenues to relate structural and functional proper- ties. The aim of this introductory chapter is to present a brief outline of these advances and pending issues