Odyssey Thera, Inc. Patent applications |
Patent application number | Title | Published |
20120208197 | Monitoring gene silencing and annotating gene function in living cells - The cell-based assays described in the present invention can be used to directly assess the sensitivity and specificity of the gene annotation reagent against its target, mapping genes and to determine if a non-targeted gene participates in a pathway of interest or is functionally linked to another gene or protein. Preferred assay embodiments include fluorescence or luminescence assays in intact (live or fixed) cells. Such fluorescence or luminescence assays include high-throughput or high-content assays for protein activity, subcellular localization, post-translational modifications, or interactions of proteins. Suitable assays may include protein-protein interaction assays; protein translocation assays; and post-translational modification assays. The invention can be used to assess the efficacy of any gene silencing experiment, and to map novel genes into biochemical pathways, and to identify novel pharmaceutical targets. The results also demonstrate the feasibility of employing this strategy in genome-wide functional annotation efforts. | 08-16-2012 |
20120149597 | Protein fragment complementation assays for high-throughput and high-content screening - The present invention provides protein fragment complementation assays for drug discovery, in particular to identify compounds that activate or inhibit cellular pathways. Based on the selection of an interacting protein pair combined with an appropriate PCA reporter, the assays may be run in high-throughput or high-content mode and may be used in automated screening of libraries of compounds. The interacting pair may be selected by cDNA library screening; by gene-by-gene interaction mapping; or by prior knowledge of a pathway. Fluorescent and luminescent assays can be constructed using the methods provided herein. The selection of suitable PCA reporters for high-throughput or high-content (high-context) assay formats is described for a diversity of reporters, with particular detail provided for examples of monomeric enzymes and fluorescent proteins. Methods are described for constructing such assays for one or more steps in a biochemical pathway; testing the effects of compounds from combinatorial, natural product, peptide, antibody, nucleic acid or other diverse libraries on the protein or pathway(s) of interest; and using the results of the screening to identify specific compounds that activate or inhibit the protein or pathway(s) of interest. Single-color and multi-color assays are disclosed. Further disclosed are universal expression vectors with cassettes that allow the rapid construction of assays for a large and diverse number of gene/reporter combinations. The development of such assays is shown to be straightforward, providing for a broad, flexible and biologically relevant platform for drug discovery. | 06-14-2012 |
20110207162 | Dynamic visualization of expressed gene networks in living cells - The present invention provides functional annotation of novel genes by detection of interactions of their encoded proteins with known proteins followed by assays to validate that the gene participates in a specific cellular function. The instant invention also provides an experimental strategy that allows for detection of protein interactions and functional assays with a single reporter system. Interactions among network component proteins are detected and probed with stimulators and inhibitors of the network and subcellular location of the interacting proteins is determined. Additionally, applicants' use this strategy to map a signal transduction network that controls the G | 08-25-2011 |
20100081632 | High-content and high throughput assays for identification of lipid-regulating pathways, and novel therapeutic agents for lipid disorders - A method of assaying protein-protein interactions associated with proteins involved in lipid pathways using a protein fragment complementation assays, said method comprising the steps of: (a) identifying protein molecules that interact with said protein associated with lipid pathways; (b) selecting a protein reporter molecule; (c) effecting fragmentation of said protein reporter molecule such that said fragmentation results in reversible loss of reporter function; (d) fusing or attaching fragments of said protein reporter molecule separately to said interacting protein molecules as defined in step (a); (e) transfecting cells with nucleic acid constructs coding for the products of step (d); (f) reassociating said reporter fragments through interactions of the protein molecules that are fused or attached to said fragments; and (g) measuring directly or Indirectly the activity of said reporter molecule resulting from the reassociation of said reporter fragments. | 04-01-2010 |
20100081580 | In vivo library-versus-library selection of optimized protein-protein interactions - The present invention describes a rapid and efficient in vivo library-versus-library screening strategy for identifying optimally interacting pairs of heterodimerizing polypeptides. It allows for the screening of a protein library against a second protein library, rather than against a single bait protein, and thus has numerous applications in the study of protein-protein interactions. Additionally, it allows for the application of different selection stringencies. Two leucine zipper libraries, semi-randomized at the positions adjacent to the hydrophobic core, were genetically fused to either one of two designed fragments of the enzyme murine dihydrofolate reductase (mDHFR), and cotransformed into | 04-01-2010 |