Conditioning RFdiffusion on edge beta-strand pairing yields specific binders to polar targets, with in silico success above 9.2% versus 0.98% for hotspot-only conditioning.

Nature Communications · Jan 10, 2026Peer-reviewedBiochemistry✦ In-depth digest

Mechanism of receptor assembly via the pleiotropic adipokine Leptin

Alexandra Tsirigotaki, Ann Dansercoer, Koen H. G. Verschueren, Iva Marković, Christoph Pollmann, Maximillian Hafer, Jan Félix, Catherine Birck, Wouter Van Putte, Dominiek Catteeuw, Jan H. Tavernier, J. Fernando Bazán, Jacob Piehler, Savvas N. Savvides, Kenneth Verstraete

This study reveals the structure and mechanism of Leptin-mediated LEP-R assembly, showing a 3:3 stoichiometry and highlighting the role of Leptin restructuring in activating signaling.

Nature Structural & Molecular Biology · Mar 23, 2023Peer-reviewedMolecular Biology

Robust de novo design of protein binding proteins from target structural information alone

Longxing Cao, Brian Coventry, Inna Goreshnik, Buwei Huang, Joon Sung Park, Kevin M. Jude, Iva Marković, Rameshwar U. Kadam, Koen H. G. Verschueren, Kenneth Verstraete, Scott Thomas Russell Walsh, Nathaniel R. Bennett, Ashish Phal, Aerin Yang, Lisa Kozodoy, , David A. Baker

This paper designs small, stable proteins that bind to diverse target proteins using only structural information, achieving nanomolar to picomolar affinities.

bioRxiv · Sep 4, 2021 · PreprintSynthetic Biology