This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project intends to addresses the unmet market need for a high-through-put multiplexed technology for profiling transcription factor activity with an innovative flow cytometric bead-based array. Transcription factors are the fundamental regulators of gene expression, and transcription factor profiles are unique signatures of biological responses. Research on and utilization of transcription factors as therapeutic and diagnostic targets has been constrained by a lack of available technology for simultaneous measurement of transcription factor activity in a high-throughput format. Phase I will focus on a unique transcription factor binding and detection strategy that employs a fluid array format to circumvent many problems that have limited the use of other technologies. The objectives of Phase I will be to demonstrate the feasibility of these strategies, to create the technology for a three-plex transcription factor profile, and to validate the technology in a model system. Phase II objectives will include expansion of the technology to multiplex up to 100 transcription factors in a high-throughput application. The technology will have broad applicability in pharmaceutical research and development, clinical research, toxicology, and in any area where investigators seek to understand and control the expression of specific sets of genes. ? ?
