BEDFORD, MA and SEATTLE, WA – September 30, 2013 – Scientists at Emerald Bio and the Seattle Structural Genomics Center for Infectious Disease (SSGCID) achieved a significant milestone in their sixth year of collaboration with the deposition of 621 protein structures in the Protein Data Bank (PDB) since 2007. The determination of these structures from human pathogens can help researchers find potential targets for new drugs that are being developed to fight infectious diseases.
Emerald Bio is responsible for a number of steps within the SSGCID protein production and structure determination pipeline from cloning and expression testing through protein purification. Emerald Bio also carries out all crystallization and x-ray crystallography structure determination work at its facilities in Bainbridge Island, WA and Bedford, MA.
In 2013 scientists at Emerald Bio published an article in the scientifically peer-reviewed video journal Jove entitled Multi-target Parallel Processing Approach for Gene-to-structure Determination of the Influenza Polymerase PB2 Subunit. Emerald Bio has developed a high-throughput, multi-target parallel processing pipeline (MTPP) for gene-to-structure determination to support the SSGCID consortium, and the protocols used to determine the structure of the PB2 subunit from four different influenza A strains are described in the video article.
“Over the past year SSGCID has focused on targets of high value to the scientific community. We recently obtained six high value target (HVT) crystal structures and have built upon our MTPP approach to enable numerous additional HVT structures over the next several years. These structures will be reported in the PDB and in publications with the scientists who nominated these targets based on work within their own labs,” according to Thomas Edwards, Co-Principal Investigator of SSGCID at Emerald Bio.
Added Peter Myler, Ph.D., professor at Seattle BioMed, “Solving the structures of the proteins in these important pathogens, including influenza virus strains H7N9, H1N1 and H5N1, and Ebola and Marburg viruses as well as the newly emerging Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus provides scientists with the foundational knowledge needed for drug and vaccine development as well as other research activities. To date, approximately 300 peer-reviewed research papers have been published that utilize this structural data, demonstrating the need for this information.”
In addition to Emerald Bio and Seattle BioMed (Seattle, WA), members of the SSGCID include the University of Washington (Seattle, WA) and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (Richland, WA). The SSGCID also teams with the Center for Structural Genomics of Infectious Diseases (CSGID), a multi-institutional international consortium of researchers, to solve protein structures. The consortium is in its second five-year contract with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), which is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
About Emerald Bio
Emerald Bio is the world’s leading protein resource, offering consultations and software to solve clients’ protein-science challenges. For 14 years Emerald Bio has leveraged its unique assets and know-how in biochemistry and structural biology to provide clients insights into proteins’ structure and function to improve human health. Emerald Bio supports leading research institutes and therapeutic and diagnostic companies worldwide that wrestle life science challenges. Privately owned, the company has facilities in Seattle and Boston. For more information visit www.embios.com.
About Seattle BioMed
Seattle BioMed is the largest independent, non-profit organization in the U.S. focused solely on infectious disease research. Our research is the foundation for new drugs, vaccines and diagnostics that benefit those who need our help most: the 14 million who will otherwise die each year from infectious diseases, including malaria, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis. Founded in 1976, Seattle BioMed has more than 330 staff members. By partnering with key collaborators around the globe, we strive to make discoveries that will save lives sooner. For more information visit www.seattlebiomed.org.
The SSGCID was originally funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) through contract number HHSN272200700057C and has been renewed for an additional five years (contract number HHSN272201200025C). The CSGID was originally funded by NIAID through contract HHSN272200700058C and was renewed for an additional five years (contract number HHSN272201200026C).
For more information contact:
Tom Bishop
Chief Business Officer
781-652-4004
tbishop@embios.com
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