Salk team reveals never-before-seen antibody binding, informing both liver cancer and antibody design

Some molecules are so elusive that scientists require a unique set of tools to capture their structure. That’s precisely how a multi-institutional research team led by Salk scientist Tony Hunter and Salk postdoctoral fellow Rajasree Kalagiri, featured in this issue’s “Next Gen,” defined how antibodies recognize a compound called phosphohistidine—an unstable molecule that’s implicated in certain cancers, such as liver and breast cancer and neuroblastoma. These insights could help researchers understand the molecule’s role in cancer pathways and also enable the design of more efficient antibodies in the future.