Case Studies
Isocitrate Lyase
Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) remains a global crisis, fueled by its ability to enter a “dormant” state that evades traditional antibiotics. To survive, Mtb switches its metabolism to the glyoxylate shunt, with Isocitrate Lyase (ICL) as the gatekeeper. While ICL is a validated drug target, optimizing inhibitors is notoriously difficult.
We are developing a direct biosensor for glyoxylate. By eliminating the secondary chemical reaction, our platform allows:
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Continuous Monitoring: Capture full progress curves and inhibition in a single run.
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Cleaner Hits: Bypasses the chemical noise that plagues traditional HTS.
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MS-Level Accuracy at HTS Speed: Achieve the quantitative reliability of Mass Spec with the 384-well throughput of a plate reader.
Serine Racemase
D-serine is a critical co-agonist of the NMDA receptor, linked to schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s, and ALS. Serine Racemase, the enzyme that converts L-serine to D-serine, is a high-priority target for drug discovery. However, the chemical similarity between the substrate and product makes detection a technical nightmare.
We are developing a direct biosensor with specificity for D-Serine. By eliminating the secondary chemical reaction, our platform allows:
Direct Chirality Sensing: We detect D-serine directly in the presence of excess L-serine without secondary enzymes.
Massive Cost Reduction: Eliminates the need for expensive chiral columns and MS specialized labor.
Accelerated SAR: Turnaround for analog testing is reduced from weeks to hours, allowing medicinal chemists to iterate in real-time.