Isogenica Collaborates with GE Healthcare on Peptide Imaging Agents

NEW YORK, May 8 (GenomeWeb News) - Isogenica and GE Healthcare have begun collaborating on the discovery of peptide ligands for use as in vivo diagnostic and medical imaging compounds, the companies said today.

Isogenica, based in Cambridge, UK, will use its CIS display technology to select peptide ligands that bind to two disease targets to be identified by GE Healthcare. GE Healthcare will have the option to further develop any imaging agent resulting from the collaboration.

The CIS display technology can identify peptides that bind with high affinity and specificity "to any given molecular target," Isogenica said. The in vitro display technology is based on the activity of RepA, a CIS-acting DNA-binding protein. Isogenica uses PCR and in vitro transcription and translation to make large polypeptide libraries in which each polypeptide is linked to its own encoding DNA sequence. The company then uses cycles of affinity selection to identify binding polypeptides that have a high affinity and fine specificity for a molecular target.

Further details of the agreement were not disclosed.