Cell surface receptors for the detection and identification of compounds
First Claim
1. A method for identifying a plurality of mutated receptors that bind a ligand to produce an identifying fingerprint for the ligand, comprising:
- generating a plurality of nucleic acids that encode a plurality of mutated receptors, introducing the plurality of nucleic acids into a plurality of cells, there being different nucleic acids in different of the plurality of cells, expressing the plurality of nucleic acids in the plurality of cells to produce a plurality of mutated receptors on the surface of the cells, contacting the plurality of cells with the ligand, detecting an intracellular signal in a cell generated by a ligand binding to one of the plurality of mutated receptors, the signal being indicative of the presence of a mutated receptor that binds the ligand, wherein the mutated receptor is selected from the group consisting of mutated G-protein coupled receptors, tyrosine kinase receptors and ion channels, and selecting a plurality of mutated receptors based upon the generated intracellular signals to produce an identifying fingerprint for the ligand.
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Abstract
The invention exploits the evolutionary principles responsible for the development of the broad spectrum general odorant detector system, to create a cell-surface receptor based system capable of detecting and discriminating between thousands of chemicals. This is accomplished by subjecting a defined set of cell-surface receptors such as G-protein coupled receptors, tyrosine kinase receptors, and/or ion channels, to the types of evolutionary forces that have created the array of approximately 1,000 natural receptors used in general olfaction by higher animals. This goal is further accomplished by a ‘directed evolution-in-a-test-tube’ method, imposing very high rates of mutation and extremely strict selection criteria to create a sensor. The novel sensor of the present invention is selected using a sensitive melanophore-based functional bioassay.
9 Citations
27 Claims
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1. A method for identifying a plurality of mutated receptors that bind a ligand to produce an identifying fingerprint for the ligand, comprising:
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generating a plurality of nucleic acids that encode a plurality of mutated receptors, introducing the plurality of nucleic acids into a plurality of cells, there being different nucleic acids in different of the plurality of cells, expressing the plurality of nucleic acids in the plurality of cells to produce a plurality of mutated receptors on the surface of the cells, contacting the plurality of cells with the ligand, detecting an intracellular signal in a cell generated by a ligand binding to one of the plurality of mutated receptors, the signal being indicative of the presence of a mutated receptor that binds the ligand, wherein the mutated receptor is selected from the group consisting of mutated G-protein coupled receptors, tyrosine kinase receptors and ion channels, and selecting a plurality of mutated receptors based upon the generated intracellular signals to produce an identifying fingerprint for the ligand. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method for testing a sample for the presence of a ligand comprising:
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contacting the sample with a plurality of recombinant cells expressing a plurality of exogenous cell surface receptors, each receptor mutated to have altered binding to its natural ligand, and determining the presence of a preselected signal generated if the ligand binds to the plurality of exogenous cell surface receptors. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A method for generating an identifying fingerprint for a ligand comprising:
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contacting an army of recombinant cells expressing an array of exogenous mutated cell surface receptors with a ligand to generate a plurality of signals, each of said receptors having a different selectivity or specificity for the ligand, and selecting a plurality of the generated signals to produce an identifying fingerprint for the ligand. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25)
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26. A method for determining relatedness of a sample to a standard known to be authentic or known to have at least one selected characteristic of authentic material, the method comprising:
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generating a plurality of signals for a ligand-containing standard by contacting an array of recombinant cells expressing an array of exogenous mutated cell surface receptors with a ligand-containing standard, each of said receptors having a different selectivity or specificity for a ligand in the ligand-containing standard, the plurality of signals comprising a standard-fingerprint for the ligand-containing standard, generating a plurality of signals for a ligand-containing sample by contacting an array of recombinant cells expressing an array of exogenous mutated cell surface receptors with a ligand-containing sample, each of said receptors having a different selectivity or specificity for a ligand in the ligand-containing sample, the plurality of signals comprising a sample-fingerprint for the ligand-containing sample, wherein the array of recombinant cells expressing an array of exogenous mutated cell surface receptors contacted by the ligand-containing sample is identical to the array of recombinant cells expressing an array of exogenous mutated cell surface receptors contacted by the ligand-containing standard, and comparing the sample-fingerprint with the standard-fingerprint to determine whether the ligand-containing sample is authentic.
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27. A computer-implemented method for determining the identity of a product, comprising:
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receiving standard-fingerprint data produced by generating a plurality of signals for a ligand-containing standard by contacting an array of recombinant cells expressing an array of exogenous mutated cell surface receptors with a ligand-containing standard, each of said receptors having a different selectivity or specificity for a ligand in the ligand-containing standard, the plurality of signals comprising a standard-fingerprint for the ligand-containing standard;
receiving sample-fingerprint data produced by generating a plurality of signals for a ligand-containing sample by contacting an array of recombinant cells expressing an array of exogenous mutated cell surface receptors with a ligand-containing sample, each of said receptors having a different selectivity or specificity for a ligand in the ligand-containing sample, the plurality of signals comprising a sample-fingerprint for the ligand-containing sample, wherein the sample-fingerprint data is generated using the same array of recombinant cells expressing an array of exogenous mutated cell surface receptors contacted by the ligand-containing standard to generate the standard-fingerprint data;
comparing sample-fingerprint data from the ligand-containing sample to standard-fingerprint data from the ligand-containing standard, and wherein identity requires the sample-fingerprint data from the ligand-containing sample to be within a pre-selected confidence limit defining a range of values calculated from the standard-fingerprint data.
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Specification