Computational design of interleukin-2 mimetics

Abstract

Interleukin-2 is a cytokine that plays a central role in immune system homeostasis, exerting paradoxical immunostimulatory and immunoregulatory effects based on its interactions with various receptor subunits differentially expressed across different cell types. It has been explored for a wide range of potential therapeutic applications. For my work in this dissertation, I have computationally designed minimalist interleukin-2 mimetics that retain only the structural elements necessary for binding and signal transduction with decreased dependence on biochemical context. It is my hope that these computationally designed mimetics can form the basis of useful engineered therapeutics in applications where it is desirable to shift the balance of the immune response.