TAS::75 0849::TAS R&D-OTHER SCIENCES-ENG DEV

Cellecta, Inc., Mountain View CA

Investigators

Abstract

Despite rapid advances in elucidating the molecular basis of human diseases, an ostensibly more difficult post-genomic challenge is the functional annotation of disease-specific signaling pathways and the application of this information for the development of novel drugs. RNA interference (RNAi) now makes it possible to use high-throughput functional genomic strategies for SL target identification. Unfortunately, while RNAi has opened new avenues for improving the drug discovery process, these avenues remain only potential opportunities until we develop robust RNAi screening technologies, including experimental and bioinformatics tools for data validation and integration into operational cell-based models. To address these issues and, as outlined in the 290 SBIR contract proposal, it will require to develop a novel orthogonal functional genomics platform based on validated lentiviral shRNA libraries to facilitate discovery of SL molecular targets en masse. Accordingly, the ultimate goal of the 290 topic research project is to develop and commercialize a set of human and mouse pooled SL shRNA libraries targeting all cannonical DDR gene combinations and validate their application for RNAi screens in cancer cell models. As a supporting tools, it will also require to develop protocols, reagents and software tools for in vitro and in vivo screening SL hit validation and therapeutic target prioritization that specifically control the proliferation and survival of cancer cells. The aforementioned genetic screening and bioinformatic tools will provide the research community with highly modular, cost-effective approaches to understand and integrate the dynamic changes in DDR signaling networks for the discovery of novel anti-cancer SL targets.