-Lactamase inhibitor protein (BLIP) binds a variety of class A -lactamases with affinities ranging from micromolar to picomolar. Whereas the TEM-1 and SHV-1 -lactamases are almost structurally identical, BLIP binds TEM-1 ϳ1000-fold tighter than SHV-1. Determining the underlying source of this affinity difference is important for understanding the molecular basis of -lactamase inhibition and mechanisms of protein-protein interface specificity and affinity. Here we present the 1.6 Å resolution crystal structure of SHV-1⅐BLIP. In addition, a point mutation was identified, SHV D104E, that increases SHV⅐BLIP binding affinity from micromolar to nanomolar. Comparison of the SHV-1⅐BLIP structure with the published TEM-1⅐BLIP structure suggests that the increased volume of Glu-104 stabilizes a key binding loop in the interface. Solution of the 1.8 Å SHV D104K⅐BLIP crystal structure identifies a novel conformation in which this binding loop is removed from the interface. Using these structural data, we evaluated the ability of EGAD, a program developed for computational protein design, to calculate changes in the stability of mutant -lactamase⅐BLIP complexes. Changes in binding affinity were calculated within an error of 1.6 kcal/ mol of the experimental values for 112 mutations at the TEM-1⅐BLIP interface and within an error of 2.2 kcal/mol for 24 mutations at the SHV-1⅐BLIP interface. The reasonable success of EGAD in predicting changes in interface stability is a promising step toward understanding the stability of the -lactamase⅐BLIP complexes and computationally assisted design of tight binding BLIP variants.Class A -lactamases are a major cause of -lactam resistance in Gram-negative bacteria. These enzymes catalyze the hydrolysis of -lactam antibiotics, such as penicillins and cephalosporins, rendering them inactive. -Lactamase inhibitor protein (BLIP), 6 which is secreted by the Gram-positive soil bacterium Streptomyces clavuligeris, inhibits a variety of class A -lactamase enzymes with a wide spectrum of affinities. Its binding partners include Escherichia coli TEM-1, Klebsiella pneumoniae SHV-1, Serratia marcescens SME-1, Bacillus anthracis BlaI, and Proteus vulgaris K1, among others. BLIP is able to inhibit K1 with picomolar affinity and TEM-1, SME-1, and BlaI with nanomolar affinity. However, it inhibits SHV-1 with only micromolar affinity (1, 2). Whereas SHV-1 shares 67% sequence identity with TEM-1 (Fig. 1), and the crystal structures of the unbound -lactamases overlay with an ␣-carbon r.m.s. deviation of 1.4 Å, BLIP exhibits a 1000-fold difference in affinity for the two (3). This poses an interesting question of binding specificity and affinity. How does BLIP bind multiple targets, and what is the source of variation in binding affinity? Recent alanine scanning mutagenesis has provided insight into the origins of BLIP affinity and specificity for an array of -lactamases, including TEM-1 and SHV-1 (2, 4). However, interpretation of these data has been limited, because only the structure of the T...