Human TNF mutants with selective affinity on the R55 or R75 receptor

Four new-type TNF mutants, which discriminated between its two receptors R55 and R75, were designed based on the structural model of TNF-receptor complexes. All mutants were purified for competitive binding assay with I-125 wild-type hTNF to the recombinant hTNF-R55 and hTNF-R75 receptors. Two of the four mutants were found to selectively retain most of their binding capacity to one of the receptors, but decreased affinity to other one, significantly as designed.