Bio Core

University Of Kentucky, Lexington KY

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY – BIO CORE The primary goals of the Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) for Translational Chemical Biology (CTCB) are to support junior faculty recruitment and mentorship, implement and sustain mission-critical research support cores, and provide the foundation for an innovative and broad-reaching interdisciplinary translational chemical biology research community at the University of Kentucky (UK). The Center’s theme intersects chemical biology, molecular pharmacology, and pharmaceutical science. CTCB is unique to, and synergistic with, UK’s biomedical research enterprise that offers a wealth of innovative models and potential new drug targets linked to Appalachian Kentucky health disparities. As such, the Center provides a new unifying framework for faculty to create, leverage, and advance novel chemical probes and leads for the study and control of diverse disease-relevant biology. Within this context, the CTCB Bio Core is one of two independent Phase 2 research support cores, that in conjunction with the CTCB Chem Core, operate as an integrated unit to strategically support probe and project development. As UK’s only assay development and screening core, the CTCB Bio Core will support enabling assay development and virtual and wet-bench screening. As new Phase 2 Bio Core resources, the Core will further grow and leverage its exclusive Natural Products Repository, develop and implement state-of-the-art target-guided assays, and develop new computational platforms for virtual screening. In early Phase 2, the Bio Core will support target-based virtual screens (Project 7, Alam), pharmacophore-based virtual screens (Projects 7 and 9, Alam and Helmy, respectively), and wet-bench cytotoxicity and antimicrobial (Projects 7 and 9), thermofluor ligand-binding (Project 7), and GCPR reporter (Ignite Scholar Jaramillo) assays. The Core will also leverage new machine-learning-based methods for virtual screening (Projects 7 and 9) and develop new wet-bench enzyme activity (CadA, Project 7), quorum-sensing (Project 9), human apical sodium-dependent bile acid transporter (ASBT, Project 8, Czuba), and calcium imaging (Ignite Scholar Tidgewell) assays. In addition, the CTCB Administrative Core will continue rigorous Bio Core tracking and evaluation in Phase 2 to ensure efficient core responsiveness and exemplary services and establish a quantitative cost basis for prospective Bio Core user fees for long-term core sustainability.