A Predictive Model for Nuclear Transfer Reprogramming

描述(由申请人提供)：Infigen将利用SBIR赠款支持开发一个模型，用于评估与细胞重新编程相关的分子事件，从而能够及早确定细胞发育成所需有机体或组织的可能性。到目前为止，还没有这样的模式被报道，这阻碍了合理的方法来开发依赖于适当的重新编程的新兴卫生保健应用，例如基于细胞的治疗和核移植技术。Infigen提出的模型将专注于牛和猪的胚胎，这些胚胎是核移植的候选者，并将提供系统地对此类胚胎的细胞进行分类的能力，以获得发育能力--发育到活产的能力。然而，该模型将适用于所有类型的细胞，提供一种评估细胞去分化和重新分化为特定所需细胞类型和组织的能力的方法。第一阶段的研究将确定反映重编程能力的基因，并确认可以根据蛋白质表达模式区分已知类别的供体细胞系。这些研究的结果将在第二阶段用于开发一种供体细胞系重新编程的“芯片”，该芯片可以预测要重新编程的供体细胞系的能力。这项技术将通过在Infigen自己的专有核移植克隆技术中应用于生物制药生产、异种移植和动物研究模型，以及通过与开发各种应用的公司建立战略联盟来实现商业化，这些应用可以利用新平台，特别是基于细胞的疗法。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Infigen will use SBIR grant support to develop a model for evaluating the molecular events associated with cellular reprogramming that enables early determination of a cell's probability of developing into a desired organism or tissue. No such model has been reported to date, impeding rational approaches to development of emerging health care applications dependent upon proper reprogramming, such as cell based therapeutics and nuclear transfer technologies. Infigen's proposed model will focus on bovine and pig embryos that are candidates for nuclear transfer and will provide the ability to systematically classify the cells of such embryos for developmental competence--the ability to develop to live birth. However, the model will be designed for applications to all cell types, providing a means to assess the ability of cells to dedifferentiate and re-differentiate into specific desired cell types and tissues. Phase I studies will identify genes reflecting reprogramming competence and confirm that donor cell lines of known classes can be distinguished based on protein expression patterns. Results from these studies will be used in Phase II to develop a donor cell line reprogramming "chip" that can predict the competence of a donor cell line to be reprogrammed. The technology will be commercialized through applications in Infigen's own proprietary nuclear transfer cloning technologies for biopharmaceutical production, xenotransplantation, and animal research models, and through strategic alliances with firms developing various applications that can take advantage of the new platform, particularly cell-based therapeutics.