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Contact UsOur Cellular Systems Biology (CSB™) approach views the cell as the basic unit of life and therefore the first level of a systems biology.
CSB™ is the study of the integrated and interacting network of genes, proteins and metabolic processes that give rise to normal and abnormal functions. The cell, as a complex system, also exhibits properties that are not anticipated from detailed knowledge of its components or component functions.
CSB™ represents the new frontier in biopharmaceutical research. It is a major step toward creating a more efficient process to develop safer and more efficacious drugs faster and at lower cost. CSB builds on the information gained from the fields of genomics, proteomics and metabolomics, as well as the platform technology of High Content Screening (HCS) from the field of cellomics.
Our solution addresses the complexity of cells by performing Cellular Systems Biology profiles leveraging the market acceptance of HCS now used for simple assays and screens. However, rather than analyzing one to several cellular parameters as performed in standard HCS assays, Cellumen profiles many (more than 10) cellular parameters that represent the cellular systems response. Correlations between parameters in the same cells are a critical element of CSB.
A CSB™ profile reads out key systems-response parameters that define the state of the cellular system, whether it is a cellular model of disease or toxicity profile. Proprietary panels of biomarkers/reagents are used in each application. A database of response profiles is maintained for potential predictive capabilities.
Cellular systems biology takes advantage of proprietary and existing reagents and informatics tools to create the profiles. The present reagents to manipulate cellular constituents are based on a gene switch technology that is tightly regulated to control expression. The reagents for measurement include fluorescent analogs of proteins tagged with a variety of fluorescent labels to measure location and/or activity. A series of protein-protein biosensors have also been developed to measure biochemical activities such as protein-protein interactions. In addition, panels of fluorescently labeled antibodies have been assembled to define cellular systems responses for different biological processes. Cellumen is currently developing additional reagents to manipulate and to measure cellular constituents.
Discover how CSB™ products and services from Cellumen can be applied to your drug discovery and development process today. Contact us now.