Biodesy is a life science instrumentation company developing a unique and highly sensitive means of detecting conformational change in proteins and other biological molecules. Based on a phenomenon called second-harmonic generation (SHG), can monitor structural change at any site within a protein. The technology can be used to measure functional activation in a protein upon binding drugs or ligands, in real time and without the need for a crystal structure. Previously located in New York City, Biodesy has developed a unique and entirely new means of detecting structural change in proteins and other biological molecules. The activity of a protein is determined by the specific structure it adopts out of the multiple ones available to it, and so a drug that favors a particular conformation will be more precise and selective in its action. The technology is also the first to enable the direct discovery of allosteric modulators. Allosteric modulators hold great promise as therapeutics. They change a protein's conformation, or stabilize an inactive one, by mimicking the natural way in which protein activity is regulated rather than competing with endogenous ligand, which can disrupt healthy processes. The firm has developed general assays of conformational change for beta-amyloid peptide monomers, integrins, and kinases. These assays can be used to discover new drugs for Alzheimers disease and a number of cancers, including breast cancer. Additional applications include, but are not limited to, GPCRs, phosphatases, proteases and ion channels.
