Mogrify and the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB) have announced an exploratory research collaboration. The project aims to develop protein expression systems by leveraging advances in direct cell reprogramming to help improve the production of proteins which are not produced sufficiently well in existing expression systems.
The Mogrify technology will be applied to predict combinations of transcription factors to induce trans-differentiation from one cell type to another. The resulting target cell types could provide researchers with improved access to important proteins found in human cell types that are difficult to obtain and allow for more efficient protein production, the company claims.
Mogrify will receive access to any intellectual property and know-how developed during the project, further enabling the commercialisation of the technology in areas of therapeutic value. The collaboration is an expansion of the company’s relationship with the MRC Lab and follows an announcement in December 2020 that it secured an exclusive license from the laboratory to an enhanced version of Mogrify technology enabling more accurate transcription factor predictions and improved cell conversion efficacy. Medical research charity LifeArc facilitated this license and negotiated the legal framework.
Julian Gough, co-founder and CSO, Mogrify & Principal Investigator, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, said: “Protein expression presents a challenge for many research projects as well as bioproduction. This project proposes to solve the problem by taking more readily available cell types and convert them into other cell types which are harder to obtain. The successful outcome of this collaboration could provide researchers with improved access to important but hard-to-get proteins and enable more efficient antibody production methods for biologic drugs.”
