Award Data

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 imaging of cellular events, which are characterized by complex signaling pathways composed of multiple, s ...

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 removal from their lipid bilayer results in loss of their native structure. Because of their complex foldi ...

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 well as aid in the development of vaccines. New, sensitive, and efficient methods of pathogen and anti ...

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 because direct structural visualization of these proteins is difficult or impossible. We have created a ...

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 traditionally studied in live cells or cell membrane preparations, sources that limit the ability to pu ...

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 disease. To date, there have been only two successfully-exploited influenza drug targets and only four ap ...

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 drug targets in the pharmaceutical industry, yet structural information about them is exceptionally difficult to obtain. The product that will ar ...

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 strong aversive reactions that influence health-related behaviors such as dietary preference and pharmaceu ...

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. Understanding these antigenic structures is a primary objective in developing a vaccine capable of ...

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 epitopes on membrane proteins are usually the most valuable type of antibody because they often bind ...