ViraCore is a biotechnology company developing a drug discovery tool, the cell-array, that enables scientists in academia and industry to determine the function of thousands of protein variants simultaneously without the need for prior sequencing or individual site-directed mutagenesis. We propose… More

ViraCore's technology uses a biosensor-based technique that is capable of identifying, measuring, and characterizing drug interactions with membrane-bound receptors, a protein family targeted by 50 percent of the world's drugs. Membrane receptors such as G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) are… More

ViraCore's technology uses a biosensor-based technique that is capable of identifying, measuring, and characterizing drug interactions with membrane-bound receptors, a protein family targeted by 50 percent of the world's drugs. Membrane receptors such as G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) are… More

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): ViraCore is a biotechnology company that is creating a drug discovery tool that is capable of presenting complex receptors in a nanometer-sized particle format. Specific ally, ViraCore is using "lipoparticles", nanometer -sized particles surrounded by a lipid… More

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Optical biosensors are a class of instruments that can detect intramolecular interactions in real-time, without labels, and with high sensitivity. Their use has grown at a 25-40 percent annual rate since the early 1990's, and biosensors have been integrated into… More

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): ViraCore is a tool-based biotechnology company that is creating a drug discovery platform for use by the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. ViraCore is developing "lipoparticles", nanometer-sized particles surrounded by a lipid bilayer and embedded… More

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Ion channels function as signaling intermediaries that are involved in nerve signal propagation, muscle contraction, cardiopulmonary regulation, and cell metabolism. Their importance is underscored by the existence of dozens of ion channel-specific drugs that… More

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Ion channels function as cell-signaling effectors for a diverse range of physiological activities, including nerve signal propagation, muscle contraction, cardiopulmonary regulation, and cell metabolism. Their impact on human health is underscored by the… More

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) CXCR4 is a determinant of the pathogenesis of HIV-1 infection and breast cancer, but efforts to develop drugs that modify its function have been unsuccessful. Traditional assays that screen GPCR function mostly use live… More

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Biosensors capable of detecting infectious agents, and/or of detecting a serological reaction in people potentially exposed to dangerous pathogens, are fundamental to rapid biodefense screening and response processes. Biosensors based on the signaling properties… More

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Classical visual probes operate by binding to and illuminating a target molecule of interest. However, most probes are limited in response to a single event, binding to a single target, or reporting a single phenomenon. This is a significant limitation for… More

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Despite their importance, proteins that span the membrane multiple times present a unique set of challenges for structural analyses such as x-ray crystallography. Large portions of these proteins are hydrophobic, the proteins are topologically complex, and… More

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Sensors for rapid and sensitive detection of human pathogens are fundamental to biodefense screening and emergency response procedures. The availability of sensors that can additionally detect antibodies against such pathogens would indicate prior exposure, as… More

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Understanding the precise molecular interactions between drugs and their targets, their structure-activity relationship (SAR), is a highly desirable goal during drug development. Elucidation of SAR for G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) is a complicated task… More

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Dengue virus (DENV) is the most significant cause of arthropod-borne viral disease in humans, resulting in an estimated 50 million cases of dengue fever and over 450,000 cases of life-threatening dengue hemorrhagic feve r/dengue shock syndrome (DHF/DSS) each… More

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Understanding the precise molecular interactions between drugs and their targets, their structure-activity relationship (SAR), is a highly desirable goal during drug development. GPCRs are the single largest family of d rug targets in the pharmaceutical industry,… More

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are one of the most important families of pharmaceutical targets. However, some of the most desirable types of GPCR drugs have also been some of the most difficult to discover. GPCRs are integral membrane proteins that are… More

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Influenza virus is a Category C biodefense pathogen of global public health concern because it causes 3-5 million cases of severe illness every year, and because of the potential for the emergence of new, highly pathoge nic strains that could cause pandemic… More

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): As the primary mechanism by which animals detect nutrient-rich foods and discriminate against toxins, the sense of taste has a significant impact on health and behavior. Bitter tastes are perceived with high sensitivity and broad specificity, and can evoke… More

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The identification of highly potent and broadly neutralizing antibodies isolated from HIV-1- infected donors suggests that when presented with a suitable antigenic structure, the human immune system can produce protective antibodies that HIV-1 is unable to evade.… More

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Because of their importance in cell signaling and human disease, integral membrane proteins such as G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) and ion channels comprise over 40% of existing drug targets. Monoclonal antibodies(MAbs) that recognize conformation-dependent… More

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): When presented with a suitable antigenic Envelope (Env) structure, the human immune system can produce protective antibodies that HIV is unable to evade. Many of the most potently neutralizing HIV antibodies identifiedto date preferentially bind the trimeric… More

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): We propose to use a novel technology, the Lipoparticle, to capture and concentrate structurally intact membrane proteins in a format amenable to phage panning for MAb isolation. The use of Lipoparticles to pan phage display libraries represents a valuable… More