Research & Development
Our Platform for Region-Selective Drug Screening
Receptors don't act alone. Receptor-associated scaffolding proteins form complexes with receptors to support their function. They are expressed in discrete brain regions. A prime example: transmembrane AMPA receptor regulatory proteins (TARPs), which co-localize with glutamate receptors. We leverage TARPs within our platform—cell-based screening assays expressing our proteins of interest— to discover region-specific compounds and to explore unique binding sites.
Our Focus: Ionotropic
Glutamate Receptors
Ionotropic glutamate receptors, like AMPA receptors, play a key role in the brain’s excitatory signaling. Their dysfunction, even in one brain area, underlies many disorders.
Glutamate receptor drugs do exist, but their broad activity causes unwanted effects. We use TARPs to direct medicines to disease-driving regions while sparing others, limiting side-effects and increasing efficacy.
