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Nature Biotechnology 24, 582–586 (1 June 2006) | doi:10.1038/nbt1204

Statistical pattern matching facilitates the design of polyvalent inhibitors of anthrax and cholera toxins

Prakash Rai , Chakradhar Padala , Vincent Poon , Arundhati Saraph , Saleem Basha , Sandesh Kate , Kevin Tao , Jeremy Mogridge & Ravi S Kane

Numerous biological processes involve the recognition of a specific pattern of binding sites on a target protein or surface. Although ligands displayed by disordered scaffolds form stochastic rather than specific patterns, theoretical models predict that recognition will occur between patterns that are characterized by similar or “matched” statistics.