|
A unique protein-bonding technology created by Protein Engineering
Network of Centres of Excellence scientists is being developed into
an innovative tool for drug discovery. And a subsidiary of Helix BioPharma
is taking it to the world market.
For Dr. Robert Hodges, protein chemistry is like love - he's looking
for that unique bond. Luckily, he's found it, or rather made it, in two
molecules called the E-coil and the K-coil. Whenever these two molecules
meet, there's an irresistible attraction, and the two coils unite and
intertwine like a coiled rope. Unmistakably, every time, it's exactly
the same.
|
Matching more than molecules
While Dr. Robert Hodges builds molecules that fit perfectly, he's also keen to create long-standing human bonds.
"Companies are getting patentable technology from our research, but they're also getting highly trained personnel," says Dr. Hodges, the former CEO and scientific director of PENCE and now a professor at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Centre.
PENCE, he notes, has created strong links between university
and industry, links that will continue to act as corridors
for technology transfer and commercialization. Several
graduate and post-doctoral students, who were involved
in the coiled-coil peptide research, now work for Helix
BioPharma, including Dr. Heman Chao, the company's
vice-president of technology. Dr. Chao's research has
been published in Science and Nature and he is associated
with a number of filed and pending patents for the company.
|
|
"That's the beauty of the system," says Dr. Hodges, the principal
investigator in the design of this coiled-coil peptide system now
at the heart of a new state-of-the-art biochip technology. The biochip
is the result of a longstanding research program funded by the Protein
Engineering Network of Centres of Excellence (PENCE).
In 1997, Helix BioPharma, a mid-sized Canadian pharmaceutical company, collaborated with PENCE to develop a unique, multi-purpose biosensor based on the coiled-coil technology. Protein biosensors, or biochips, are expected to play a pivotal role in the drug discovery and validation process by enabling high throughput, or rapid assessment of potential drug targets.
This ability to perform high throughput assessment of DNA is fuelling the genomic revolution, as typified by the Human Genome Project, which is identifying the 30,000 or so genes in human DNA. Biochips could play the same role in the emerging proteomics revolution. Although there are significant challenges in this new field, advanced approaches to proteomics, or the study of proteins, are delivering more insights into human health and disease and resulting in increased commercial interest.
"The PENCE model was absolutely perfect for taking this technology from basic research to commercialization," says Dr. Hodges, who led much of the research through his University of Alberta laboratory. "Because it's a national network, we were able to do what no university in Canada has yet been able to do. We took a project in McGill, combined it with a project at the University of Alberta and made something worth patenting. And when you have something worth patenting, you can attract industry."
The national approach has led to one licence agreement, four patents in the United States, two international patents and the creation of Sensium Technologies, a Helix subsidiary, which is taking biosensor technology into the marketplace. Sensium has attracted more than $5 million in initial investment.
The Sensium biochip relies on the fact that the E-coil and K-coil consistently bond in the same way and can be used as a sure-fire delivery and display system. With the K-coil attached to a surface, E-coils with a third molecule attached are added. In the resulting structure, the third molecule is exposed like a flag. What makes this highly organized and repeatable threesome the ideal biosensor is the potential to test the third molecule for reactivity to other molecules, such as antibodies.
Sensium's biochip will enable pharmaceutical industry researchers to quickly and efficiently assess the interactions of hundreds or thousands of molecules. This is especially important in the development of new pharmaceuticals, because identifying proteins in the body that can serve as drug targets is like trying to find a needle in a haystack.
Created in 1990, PENCE brings together more than 100 leading researchers from 21 Canadian universities, hospitals and research institutes to facilitate the creation of new technologies and foster the design of commercial protein products and services.
www.pence.ca
|
