A Predictive Model for Nuclear Transfer Reprogramming

描述（由申请人提供）：Infigen将使用SBIR资助开发一种模型，用于评估与细胞重编程相关的分子事件，从而能够早期确定细胞发育成所需生物体或组织的概率。迄今为止还没有报道过这样的模型，这阻碍了依赖于适当重编程的新兴医疗保健应用的合理方法的开发，例如基于细胞的治疗和核转移技术。Infigen提出的模型将集中在牛和猪的胚胎上，这些胚胎是核移植的候选者，并将提供系统地对这些胚胎的细胞进行发育能力分类的能力-发育到活产的能力。然而，该模型将被设计用于应用于所有细胞类型，提供评估细胞去分化和再分化为特定所需细胞类型和组织的能力的方法。I期研究将鉴定反映重编程能力的基因，并证实已知类别的供体细胞系可以根据蛋白质表达模式进行区分。这些研究的结果将用于第二阶段，以开发一种供体细胞系重编程“芯片”，该芯片可以预测供体细胞系被重编程的能力。该技术将通过在Infigen自己专有的核转移克隆技术中的应用实现商业化，用于生物制药生产，异种移植和动物研究模型，并通过与开发各种应用的公司建立战略联盟，这些应用可以利用新平台，特别是基于细胞的治疗。

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.