The Open Drug Discovery Center for AD (Open-AD) Structural Biology core aims to provide Target Enabling Packages (TEPs): a combination of experimental tools and knowledge that will allow researchers to investigate the biology of potential drug targets and to test therapeutic hypotheses. The TEPs will consist of: gene knockout reagents and cell lines; purified target proteins for functional studies and for the development of antibodies and inhibitors; and structures of proteins and protein:ligand complexes, to understand protein functions and support drug development. Target selection and the definition of the required experimental tools will be determined in consultation with the Bioinformatics and the Admin and Data Cores, which will bring in community expertise. The Structural Biology core will have a central role within the Open-AD project, providing purified proteins for assay development and screening by the Assay core and structural data to guide chemical development by the MedChem core. By releasing all reagents and data, we will enable and promote deeper and wider study by the biomedical research community. The Structural Biology core team is already engaged in active collaboration with the Mangravite and Levey groups, generating TEPs for targets discovered in the AMP-AD consortium; some of these TEPs will form the basis of the first chemical development programs within the new proposed Open-AD project.
