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Discovery Biology

Discovery Biology

The scope of Biology services at Mavens encompasses comprehensive in vitro and in vivo profiling of molecules for their activity in various biochemical and cell-based systems and animal models.

Our facilities are designed to meet the most stringent requirements of both national and international regulatory agencies. Biology activities at Mavens are carried out in strict accordance with guidelines from regulatory bodies such as the Committee for the Purpose of Control and Supervision of Experiments on Animals (CPCSEA), Institutional Animal Ethics Committee (IAEC), Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBSC), and Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB).

In vitro Biology Services

Mavens provide customized / fit-for-purpose solutions for in vitro research for a broad range of target classes and phenotypic readouts. Our in vitro Biology services include:

Reagent Generation
  • Cloning and Mutagenesis
  • Overexpression and Protein production
    • Protein purification and characterization/Membrane preparation
    • Bacterial, Baculoviral and Mammalian systems
  • Transient expression
  • Stable cell-line generation
  • Reporter cell lines
Assay Development and Validation

Mavens offers expertise for development and validation of in vitro assays for various target classes such as GPCRs, nuclear receptors, transporters, epigenetic targets, enzymes as well as downstream phenotypic readouts. Our capabilities include

Biochemical Assays

  • Enzyme assays
    • Inhibition
    • Activation
    • Kinetic analyses
  • Protein-protein interaction
  • Ligand binding assays
    • Competitive binding
    • Saturation binding
    • Dissociation Kinetics
  • Ex vivo receptor occupancy assays

Cell-based Assays

  • Cell signalling
    • cAMP,
    • Calcium flux,
    • GTPγS,
    • IP3,
    • Phosphorylation
  • Ion flux
  • Uptake assays
  • Pathway Analysis
  • Phenotypic assays
    • Metabolic
      • Glucose uptake; Glycogen synthesis; Glycolysis
      • Cells: Primary cultures and cell lines such as 3T3L1, C2C12, L6, HepG2 Glucose uptake assay in primary hepatocytes and adipocytes
      • Glycogen synthesis in primary hepatocytes
      • Endogenous glucose production in primary hepatocytes
      • Immuno-fluorescence studies to monitor translocation of proteins in cell
      • Glucose-dependent Insulin secretion in rodent islets
      • Glucagon secretion in rodent islets
      • Fatty acid oxidation in skeletal muscle cells [ex vivo; soleus muscles]
      • Lipolysis in primary adipocytes
      • GLP-1 secretion in entero-endocrine cells
      • Rat primary brown adipose tissue (BAT) cultures to study metabolic parameters/biomarkers
      • Rat primary cardiomyocyte culture to study metabolic parameters/biomarkers
    • Immunology/ Inflammation
      • Cytokine, chemokine and second messenger detection assays and reporter assays
      • Cells: Human and rodent primary cells (whole blood, splenocytes, PBMCs, B cells, macrophages, lung cells); relevant cell lines; stable cells overexpressing receptors
      • Purification of immune cells from whole blood, spleen, etc. using magnetic cell separation and other technologies
      • Immune cell differentiation, proliferation, growth inhibition assays (including apoptosis, BrdU assays)
      • Differential cell analysis by flow cytometry using cell surface markers
      • Detection and analysis of tissue infiltrated immune cells
      • Ex vivo biomarker analysis [protein and mRNA (qPCR)] from different tissues from PD and efficacy studies
      • Measurement of stimulus-specific phosphorylation events in cells including whole blood using flow cytometry and other immunological techniques
      • Immunofluorescence-based measurements of cellular events
    • Oncology
      • Cell proliferation
      • Cytotoxicity
      • Angiogenesis
      • Tube formation
      • Apoptosis
    • CNS
      • Ligand binding assays using –
        • Membranes prepared from relevant cell lines endogenously expressing the receptors, stable cells overexpressing receptors, dissected CNS tissues
      • Ex vivo receptor occupancy assays
  • Mechanism of action and Pharamcodynamic (PD) / biomarker studies
Screening

In addition to assay development, Mavens has experience in screening of focused or larger libraries as well as characterization of compounds for potency, selectivity and/ or mechanism of action.

Assay Readouts

  • Radiometric
  • Absorbance
  • Luminescence
  • Fluorescence,
  • TR-FRET,
  • Fluorescence polarization,
  • Label-free
  • Gene expression/quantitative Real time PCR (qPCR)

Assay Formats

  • 96-well
  • 384 well
Mechanism of action assays (in cell free and cell based assays)
  • Binding kinetics
  • Dissociation kinetics
  • Reversibility assays
  • Competitive vs. non competitive binding or inhibition
  • Schild Analysis
Ex vivo assays
  • Functional assays such as insulin or cytokine release
  • Receptor occupancy assays

In vivo Pharmacology Services

  • State-of-the-art in vivo research infrastructure for lower species:
  • Mice, including Immunosuppressed
  • Rats
  • Rabbits
  • Approved for breeding and experiments by Indian regulatory authorities such as the Committee for the Purpose of Control and Supervision of Experiments on Animals (CPCSEA)
  • Institutional Animal Ethics Committee (IAEC) is in place according to CPCSEA guidelines.
  • Import licenses in place from the Indian Government to enable procurement of animals from the USA, Europe, and Japan.
  • The in vivo Pharmacology team has extensive experience in setting up the novel in vivo pharmacodynamics (PD) and efficacy models, tailor-made to meet client needs with aggressive timelines. These models are supported by strong expertise in “PK-PD correlation” ex vivo assays, histopathology, and PD marker studies.

List of Animal Models

  • Metabolic
  • Immunology/Inflammation
  • CNS
  • Pain
  • Oncology
  • Other therapeutic Areas