A -- HIGH-THROUGHPUT PROTEIN PRODUCTION SCREENING

LAWRENCE LIVERMORE NATIONAL LABORATORY SEEKS LICENSEES TO COMMERCIALIZE HIGH-THROUGHPUT PROTEIN PRODUCTION SCREENING TECHNOLOGY Announcement: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), operated by the University of California under contract with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), is seeking one or more industrial partners to commercialize LLNL's high-throughput protein production screening technology. Scientists at LLNL have developed a complete system for examining protein production in a cell-free environment from many genes. Starting with a set of cDNA clones or a library (or genomic-DNA for prokaryotic organisms), protein production analysis can be completed in less than 8 hours. The technique can be performed on many different genes at a time (multiples of 96), and is readily automated. The procedure has a number of distinct advantages over existing technology. First, the procedure is fast, as it requires no bacterial growth or subcloning. Second, some proteins can be expressed in the RTS but only at low levels in vivo expression systems such as E. coli. The system can be used with non-T7 promotor based clones using a two-step PCR procedure to incorporate the necessary T7 regulatory elements. Finally, the system involves no living cells, therefore, has applications in examining proteins from disease-causing microorganisms or other bioterrorism agents. This protein expression screening is of potential value to proteomics and structural genomics efforts, which require large numbers or large quantities of protein. LLNL's flexible, high-throughput protein expression screen allows rapid analysis of many proteins and many of the steps can be easily automated. A rapid, automated screening method dramatically reduces the cost of analyzing protein expression. The process has been developed for parallel processing of 96 samples, but can be extended to work in a 384 well format. This procedure has the potential to examine protein expression from large cDNA collections such as the LLNL IMAGE collection. Note: THIS IS NOT A PROCUREMENT. Companies interested in commercializing LLNL's protein production screening technology should provide a written statement of interest which includes the following: 1. Company Name and address. 2. The name, address, and telephone number of a point of contact. 3. A description of corporate expertise and facilities relevant to commercializing this technology. Written responses should be directed to: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Industrial Partnerships and Commercialization P.O. Box 808, L-795 Livermore, CA 94551-0808 Attention: FBO 000051-03. Please provide your written statement within thirty (30) days from the date this announcement is published to ensure consideration of your interest in LLNL's protein production screening technology.