TargID - Ny metode til identifikation af targets for dyregiftstoffer
Name of applicant
Lars Ellgaard
Institution
University of Copenhagen
Amount
DKK 400,658
Year
2021
Type of grant
Research Infrastructure
Summary
More than 200,000 venomous species exist in nature. Key components of their venom are constituted by mini-proteins, so-called peptides, and millions of animal venom peptides (VPs) exist in nature. As many of the cellular pathways targeted by VPs are also found in humans, VPs are interesting for development of research tools and drug leads. Fulfilling the potential of VPs requires a thorough understand of their mechanism of action - and thus, in a first step, the identification of the cell surface proteins ("targets") that they bind. Here, we will set up a straightforward method to allow target identification for VPs of unknown function. Doing so will be an achievement of fundamental importance that will accelerate the characterization of new animal VPs with potential as drug leads.