Moreover, for only a single olfactory receptor, OR5.24, has ligand preference been characterised and shown to bind positively charged, amino acids [ 12].
Many of the well characterised MPs bind to nucleic acids.
More recently, a short motif at the carboxy-terminus of MTA1 (residues 656 686) was structurally characterised as being able to bind to RBBP4 [ 25] (Fig. 4).
One of such GPCR, formyl peptide receptor (FPR1), was initially identified to mediate leucocyte migration and was characterised by its ability to bind bacterial-derived chemotactic N-formyl peptides, such as N-formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine (fMLF) (Schiffmann et al, 1975; Durstin et al, 1994).
In addition, we and others have characterised the ability of HUVEC to bind leukocytes and to respond to cytokines in great detail.
To characterise the ability of antibodies to bind to Aβ from human cases, brain sections from AD cases were stained with and without formic acid antigenic retrieval (Fig. 1f).
By applying a multidisciplinary approach that includes high resolution X-rays crystallography, mass spectrometry and single crystal microspectrophotometry, we characterised the phospholipid bound to the enzyme and provided a structural framework to understand the inversion of substrate specificity showed by the mutants.
Sigma receptors are membrane-bound proteins characterised by an unusual promiscuous ability to bind a wide variety of drugs and their high affinity for typical neuroleptic drugs, such as haloperidol, and their potential as alternative targets for antipsychotic agents.
The linear peptide, VAP-P1, has been characterised by Yegutkin et al. and proven to bind the enzymatic groove of VAP-1 and dose-dependently inhibit VAP-1-dependent lymphocyte rolling and firm adhesion to primary endothelial cells [7].
It belongs to the lipocalin family that comprises more than 50 known members, all of which are characterised by their low molecular weight and their ability to bind to and transport small lipophilic substances (Bratt, 2000; Xu and Venge, 2000).
