Northwestern University researchers have identified structural features in engineered cell receptors that correlate with variations in receptor function.

Computational protein structure prediction tools were used to analyze a library of synthetic receptors, revealing that specific structural attributes such as ectodomain (ECD) distance and transmembrane domain (TMD) interactions are associated with receptor performance.

Engineered cell therapies rely on synthetic receptors to transduce external signals into intracellular responses. The precise relationship between receptor structure and function remains poorly understood. Advances in protein structure prediction tools, such as AlphaFold and ColabFold, have enabled the modeling of complex proteins, including single-pass transmembrane receptors.