PepSeq as a Platform to Identify Molecular Binding Agents (SYMBA)

Description

Molecules that bind to critical targets (organisms, proteins, toxins, or other biological molecules) have great potential as diagnostic tools and also as potential therapeutic drugs. The current standard in diagnostics is antibodies that are produced in rodents or with phage display technologies, which is labor intensive and lacks in cost and time effectiveness. It also relies upon what can be a complex immunological response. The final products vary in yield, shelf life, specificity, and sensitivity.

This technology relates to a method for identifying synthetic molecular binding agents from peptide libraries using the PepSeq technology. This method uses large libraries of peptides tagged with DNA sequences to precisely identify particular peptides. Target molecules (e.g., proteins, toxins, enzymes, pathogens, and biomarkers) are incubated with the libraries to identify specific peptides that bind to the targets. The candidate peptides are used to design subsequent libraries to explore their chemical derivatives and identify better binding agents. The best binding agents are used as the basis for detectors, diagnostics, and potential therapeutic agents.

Additional information