... on [2]. But engineeredmodifications of hormones, growth factors or their ana-logs are likely to differ from the native analogues in theiraffinity for binding proteins. In view of this, an importantpractical ... define β (degree of conjugation) as the proportion of BAS that is free of binding proteins and is available to interact with cognate receptors. The larger is β, the larger the proportion of "free" ... equation (8) as the incoming signal, substitutedthis into equations (6) and (7) and solved analyticallyusing Math Cad 8 graphing software (MathSoft Inc., Cam-bridge, MA, USA) to predict in vivo responses...