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BellBrook Labs Awarded NIH Grant to Develop a High Throughput cGAS Assay for Cancer and Autoimmune Disease Drug Discovery

BellBrook Labs
4 Jul 2017
Lois Manton-O'Byrne, PhD
Executive Editor

Industry news

The National Institutes of General Medical Sciences (NGMS) has awarded a Phase I $288,000 Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) grant to BellBrook Labs, LLC for the commercialization of an innovative high throughput screening (HTS) assay for detecting cyclic GMP-AMP(cGAMP) the product of the cGAMP synthase (cGAS) enzyme.

cGAS is a novel target shown to have implications in immuno-oncology and autoimmune diseases. As foreign DNA enters the cell, cGAS detects the DNA and produces cGAMP, which acts as an agonist for the STING (stimulator of interferon genes) receptor to induce a type I interferon response. Researchers have shown that regulating cGAS activity could help control this immune response with therapeutic benefit for interferon-driven autoimmune diseases such as lupus. Progress discovering small molecule cGAS modulators have been slowed by the lack of HTS-compatible assays.

BellBrook has leveraged its proprietary Transcreener® platform to directly measure cGAMP in a homogeneous immunoassay format with fluorescent readouts. Direct detection reduces the potential for interference in HTS and allows kinetic methods such as determination of residence times for more effective lead optimization early in discovery. The Transcreener cGAS Assay will enable screening of diverse small molecules for an emerging target in autoimmunity and immuno-oncology, accelerating discovery of first-in-class drugs for debilitating diseases.

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High-Throughput ScreeningHigh-throughput screening (HTS) is an automated drug discovery technique for identification of active compounds against a compound library. Use HTS readers and integrated assay preparation / analysis workstations to screen your compounds. Identify active compounds against various HTS libraries, including membranes, proteins and peptides and HTS cell lines. Find the best high-throughput screening products in our peer-reviewed product directory: compare products, check customer reviews and receive pricing direct from manufacturers.Microplate Readers / DetectorsMicroplate readers are used to automate the detection and analysis of labeled or label-free components in microplates during assays or live-cell monitoring. Microplate readers are generally distinguished by their mode of detection. Types include absorbance, luminescence, fluorescence intensity, fluorescence polarization, TRF / FRET and multimode microplate readers. Microplate readers deliver a high throughput of samples by reading multiple wells simultaneously, with the 96-well format the most commonly used. As a result, microplate readers are often used in the drug discovery, bioassays, research and pharmaceutical industries for screening applications. Microplate loading can also be automated, with robotic microplate stackers to increase throughput. Find the best microplate readers in our peer-reviewed product directory: compare products, check customer reviews and receive pricing direct from manufacturers.Compound LibrariesCompound libraries, or chemical libraries, are used in drug discovery for the identification of potential therapeutics compounds. Used in conjunction with high-throughput screening, the libraries of stored compounds are often generated for specific purposes as a drug target or disease model. Cheminformatics are commonly used when designing a compound library and software can be used to analyze the screening process.  Cell-Based AssaysCell-based assays are used to monitor the presence, quantity and activities of a desired cellular analyte including drug molecules or biomarkers. This can reveal information on cell health (apoptosis, cytotoxicity, viability and proliferation assays), cell metabolism, cell migration and cell signaling mechanisms. Find the best cell-based assay products, kits and equipment with our peer reviewed product directory: compare products, check customer reviews and receiving pricing direct from manufacturers.High-Content ScreeningHigh-content screening (HCS), also known as high-content analysis (HCA), is a high-throughput technique used in drug discovery to identify substances that alter the phenotype of cells. HCS uses fluorescent microscopic imaging and automated image analysis to investigate cellular events such as apoptosis, cell viability, GPCR activation, oxide production, neurite outgrowth, and cell signaling. Find the best fluorescent labeling reagents, cellular assays, and high-content imaging systems in our peer-reviewed product directory: compare products, check customer reviews and receive pricing direct from manufacturers.AutoimmunityHigh ThroughputHigh throughput experiments allow the simultaneous processing of several samples. This parallelization reduces the cost per experiment and increases reproducibility and output volume of data.Assay DevelopmentThe process of proving an assay to be sensitive with respect to the target is known as assay development. The assay should be able to characterize novel compounds and measure the potency of these compounds against a validated biological target.PharmaceuticalsPharmaceuticals are medicinal drugs used in healthcare to diagnose, prevent, cure and treat illnesses. Pharmaceuticals that are excreted after use appear in wastewater and can have detrimental effects on the environment.TherapeuticsTherapeutics are treatments designed to alleviate or cure diseases. These include pharmaceuticals, biologics, and gene therapies, which work by targeting specific disease mechanisms. Advances in personalized medicine and biologics offer new hope for patients with conditions that were previously difficult to treat. Browse our peer-reviewed product directory to find therapeutic solutions for various diseases; compare products, check user reviews, and get pricing directly from manufacturers.Cell SignalingDrug Discovery & Development ScreeningCancer ResearchAlthough cancer is often referred to as a single condition, it actually consists of more than 100 different diseases. Microscopy, mass spectrometry, high throughput sequencing and flow cytometry are some of the most common techniques employed in cancer research labs.

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BellBrook Labs Awarded NIH Grant to Develop a High Throughput cGAS Assay for Cancer and Autoimmune Disease Drug Discovery