AFFINITY BIOADHESIVES ENGINEERED FOR CELL CULTURE APPLICATIONS

THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS RESEARCH PROGRAM IS TO DEVELOP THROUGHGENETIC ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY A FAMILY OF "AFFINITY BIOADHESIVES" FOR SPECIFIC EUCARYOTIC CELL ATTACHMENT APPLICATIONS. IN AN ONGOING RESEARCH PROGRAM, GENEX HAS PRODUCED A SERIES OF RECOMBINANT ADHESIVE PROTEINS BASED ON THE POLYPHENOLIC PROTEIN OF THE BLUE MUSSEL. THIS ADHESIVE PROTEIN IS WELL-SUITED FOR MEDICAL AND DENTAL APPLICATIONS BECAUSE OF IT'S MOISTURE-RESISTANT ADHESIVE PROPERTIES. IN PHASE I OF THE PROGRAM PROPOSED HEREIN WE PLAN TO EXTEND THIS TECHNOLOGY TO THE AREA OF CELL CULTURE ATTACHMENT BY DEVELOPING NOVEL FUSION PROTEINS WHICH WE TERM "AFFINITY BIOADHESIVES". TO ACCOMPLISH THIS WE WILL ASSEMBLE HYBRID GENES THAT ENCODE FUSION PROTEINS CARRYING THE CELL ATTACHMENT REGION OF HUMAN FIBRONECTIN FUSED WITH THE ENGINEERED MUSSEL ADHESIVE. THESE FUSION PROTEINS WILL BE EXPRESSED IN YEAST, PURIFED AND EVALUATED FOR THEIR ADHESIVE AND CELL ATTACHMENT PROPERTIES. THESE FIRST ENGINEERED AFFINITY BIOADHESIVES WILL TEST THE FEASIBILITY OF OUR APPROACH. PHASE II RESEARCH WILL FOCUS ON DEVELOPINGAFFINITY BIOADHESIVES FOR SPECIFIC CELL ATTACHMENT APPLICATIONS. INITIAL EMPHASIS WILL BE GIVEN TO PRODUCTS FOR IN VITRO MAMMALIAN CELL CULTURE.