conceptual period

Recipient: University of Regensburg 
Funding: Go-Bio initial (01/10/2022 to 30/09/2023, EUR 119,106)

Atomic protein structures provide essential information in drug development to design active ingredients specifically for their site of action. These structures can be obtained by cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM), which is being increasingly used in industrial pharmaceutical research. In order to achieve atomic resolution for a new target protein, vitrification, i.e. the preservation of the protein structure in amorphous ice, and the uptake conditions of cryo-EM must be increasingly adapted. This can quickly become time-consuming and costly. With Align2Ice, the first automated optimisation routine for vitrification and image acquisition is to be developed. Among other things the project aims to develop special adjustment sample carriers combined with deep learning-based software for the final determination of optimal conditions. Due to the automated, user-friendly optimisation routine, Align2Ice therefore represents the first step in determining high-throughput protein structure for pharmacological drug research and opens up new and, above all, faster possibilities for the investigation of structure-action mechanisms. The purpose of the exploratory phase is to review the freedom of exercise and to analyse the market in order to fully exploit the application potential of the planned product. 

feasibility stage

Recipient: University of Regensburg
Funding: GO-Bio initial feasibility phase 3 (01/10/2023 to 30/09/2025, EUR 570,711.60)

High-resolution protein structures down to the atomic level are essential in drug development. Cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) structures are increasingly being used in industrial pharmaceutical research to identify new drugs based on target protein structures. In order to be able to atomically resolve a new target protein, various parameters of sample preparation have to be tested and adjusted again and again, which can quickly become time-consuming and costly. Membrane proteins, in particular, are often problematic in sample preparation because the transition to a frozen medium often dissolves the natural folding. In the biofoilX project, special cryo-EM sample carriers are being developed that significantly improve the ‘iceability’ of membrane proteins. The targeted product consists of surface-active biomimetic materials, which are applied to commercially available cryo-EM sample carriers in a specially developed process. The resulting film also protects the proteins from the radiation occurring in cryo-EM. Due to the surface properties specifically optimised for membrane proteins, biofoilX represents the first step on the way to high-throughput structure determination of membrane proteins for pharmacological drug discovery. During the GO-Bio initial feasibility phase the proof-of-principle is now to be provided and the IP strategy and team building are to be further advanced.