Tools and methods useful in characterizing the immunotoxic activity of xenobiotic substances

Project type: Spin-Off Company

Fluorescent Cell Chip (FCC) is a novel cost-efficient HTS screen for flagging potential immunomodulators and/or immunotoxicants in early phases of drug development. This assay is utilizing the EL-4 murine lymphoid cell line stably transfected with transgenes coding for fluorescent proteins under the control of several cytokine gene promoters. The FCC technology has been developed by the international research consortium led by the International Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology in Warsaw and funded by the European Commission's Fifth RTD Framework Programme. Proteon Pharmaceuticals S. A. ( www.proteonpharma.com ) is a research spin off company that has further developed the FCC technology into fully automated high throughput screening platform. As a result FCC can be used in the preclinical research for screening chemical libraries to discover novel immunomodulatory compounds that could become candidates for novel antiinflammatory, antiallergic and anticancer drugs.
Contact Person: Prof. Jaroslaw Dastych (jdastych@proteonpharma.com)

RNA+P=123D: Breaking the code of RNA sewuence-structure-function relationship

Project type: ERC Starting Grant, Project number: 261351;  IIMCB budget: 1 500 000 EUR

The focus of this project is to develop new computational tools for  modeling and design of RNA and RNA-protein complexes (with a focus on RNP machines, ribozymes and other molecules of medical or nanotechnological relevance), and to validate the predictions and design experimentally.
Contact Person: Prof. Janusz M. Bujnicki - iamb@genesilico.pl

Identification and characterization of small molecule candidates for new antibacterial and antiviral drugs
Project type: ministerial research grant

Project numbers: 0160/H03/2010/70, 0337/P01/2010/70, NN401 585738; IIMCB budget: 400 000 PLN

The focus of these projects is to combine virtual screening (by docking of small molecule ligands to protein receptors) and experimental validation of hits (by in vitro and in vivo assays) to identify compounds that block enzymes involved in metabolism of nucleic acids in bacterial or viral pathogens. In particular, we search for new inhibitors of bacterial rRNA methyltransferases responsible for bacterial resistance against macrolide and aminoglycoside antibiotics, and inhibitors of the influenza virus RNA polymerase. The results of a small-scale screen will serve as proof-of-concept and a starting point for a major continuation with an industrial partner and/or venture capital.
Contact Person: Prof. Janusz M. Bujnicki - iamb@genesilico.pl

New tools for analysis and manipulation of nucleic acids: restriction enzymes acting on RNA and DNA-RNA hybrids

Project type: ministerial commissioned grant

Project number:R1200202;  IIMCB budget: 1 000 000 PLN

The focus of this project is to develop sequence-specific nucleases acting on dsRNA or DNA-RNA hybrids that can serve as "restriction enzymes for RNA", to be applied e.g. in nanotechnology and diagnostics. We have already obtain proof-of-concept and we are in the process of protecting the intellectual property. The products will be further developed within the framework of a spin-off company.
Contact Person: Prof. Janusz M. Bujnicki - iamb@genesilico.pl