Development of novel high sensitivity cellular assays to complement artificial-intelligence-based rational design of small molecule protein inhibitors

能够修饰或抑制某些蛋白质的特定小分子的开发对许多部门来说都是至关重要的技术，其应用范围从生物医学领域的药物化合物到工业化学制造中使用的小分子抑制剂。到目前为止，蛋白质功能的小分子抑制剂或修饰剂的鉴定一直是通过资源密集型过程进行的，包括在实验室筛选大型化合物库。Cyclica Inc.开发了突破性的新人工智能技术，该技术通过在硅胶中筛选小分子和蛋白质之间的相互作用来进行合理的药物设计，而成本仅为实验室筛选分析的一小部分。Cyclica公司现在正在寻求与莱尔森大学的Costin Antonescu博士建立合作伙伴关系，并以NSERC Engage赠款的形式提供支持，以开发新颖的、高灵敏度的实验室细胞分析方法，以补充其现有的分子设计流水线。这些新的分析方法将允许评估电子设计的小分子在体外对蛋白质和细胞功能的活性。此外，这些分析将允许实时评估小分子对大量单个细胞的作用，因为这将是高度敏感的，并代表着Cyclica公司的尖端、下一代变革性技术。这对Advantage Cyclica公司来说是一个重大的进步和巨大的竞争对手，因此对这家加拿大公司来说是一个领先的机会，并创造了高水平的研究和营销职位。

The development of specific small molecules that can modify or inhibit certain proteins represents critically important technology for many sectors, with applications ranging from drug compounds in the biomedical sector to small molecule inhibitors for use in industrial chemical manufacture. The identification of small molecule inhibitors or modifiers of protein function has to date been performed by resource-intensive processes involving screening of large libraries of chemical compounds in the laboratory. Cyclica Inc. has developed groundbreaking new artificial intelligence technology that allows rational drug design by the screening of interactions between small molecules and proteins in silico, at a fraction of the cost of laboratory screening assays. Cyclica Inc. now seeks a partnership with Dr. Costin Antonescu at Ryerson University and support in the form of this NSERC Engage grant to develop novel, highly sensitive laboratory cell-based assays to complement its existing molecular design pipeline. These new assays will allow assessment of the activity of the in silico designed small molecules on protein and cellular function in vitro. Moreover, these assays will allow assessment of the action of the small molecules on large numbers of individual cells in real time, as will be highly sensitive and represent cutting-edge, next generation transformative technology for Cyclica Inc. This represents a significant advancement and a large competitive for advantage Cyclica Inc., and as such an opportunity for this Canadian company to lead and to create high-level research and marketing positions.****