Disclosed are methods, assays, and kits for identifying a ligand to a biological molecule, such as a protein, a lipid, a carbohydrate, or a nucleic acid. The disclosed methods may be a quantitative binding assay against targets, which sidesteps the challenge of target purification, and may provide a systematic approach to discover and target allosteric binding sites.

Provided herein are arrays, devices, systems, and methods for detection of compounds, such as odorant compounds. The arrays, devices, systems, and methods as described herein may provide patterns of electrical signals, wherein a given pattern may be associated with a given compound or a mixture of compounds such that a presence or a likelihood of a presence of the given compound or mixture of compounds can be determined. The cells expressing an odorant receptor can be present in an array of chambers, each chamber comprising a cell modified to express a unique odorant receptor profile and an electrical component configured to measure an electrical signal in the cell.

Provided are a primary cell culture medium that contains a combination of an MST1/2 kinase inhibitor and a ROCK kinase inhibitor and is used for culturing primary esophageal squamous cell carcinoma epithelial cells, and a culture method using the primay cell culture medium. In the culture method, the primary cell culture medium is used to culture primay cells on a culture vessel coated with an extracellular matrix glue, so that the primary cells prolilferate rapidly. A cell model obtained by using the primary cell culture medium and the primary cell culture method of the present invention can be used for the efficacy evaluation and screening of drugs.

Disclosed are compositions and methods for determining aberrant cardiac function or a predisposition to aberrant cardiac function, said method comprising detecting a fragment of βII spectrin associated with aberrant cardiac function or a predisposition to aberrant cardiac function in a sample derived from a subject, wherein the detection is indicative of aberrant cardiac function in the subject.

The invention generally relates to methods of screening a sample for cannabinoids.

A method of determining a pharmacodynamics or pharmacokinetic effect of an inhibitor of IL 1α comprising providing a sample from a subject; administering the inhibitor of IL 1α to the sample; measuring levels of one or more biomarkers in the sample; and determining the pharmacodynamic or the pharmacokinetic effect of the inhibitor of IL 1α based on the levels of the one or more biomarkers.

Disclosed herein are insulin resistance reporters for use in quantifying insulin response in biological cells. These biological cells may be stem cell compositions or derivatives thereof comprising the insulin resistance reporter. The stem cell derivatives include but are not limited to insulin responsive cells, tissues, or organoids, such as pancreatic, brain, adipose, muscle, or liver cells, or tissues or organoids thereof. Also disclosed herein are methods of using said insulin resistance reporters and cells with these insulin resistance reporters as models to examine insulin resistance and screening for compounds that are potentially useful for the treatment of diseases or disorders associated with insulin resistance. The cells comprising an insulin resistance reporter may be hepatic cells or liver organoid compositions, which can be used in investigating hepatic insulin resistance, for example, as a result of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease or steatohepatitis.

Monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies that bind hamster phospholipase B-like 2 are provided. Also provided are methods for detecting and quantifying hamster phospholipase B-like 2, for example, in recombinant polypeptide preparations, as well as kits for carrying out such methods. Methods of screening or selecting host cell lines or recombinant polypeptide-expressing cell lines that express low levels of hamster phospholipase B-like 2 are also provided.

The present disclosure relates to diagnostic methods that are relevant to various cancers and which comprise BH3 profiling diagnostics for, among others, predication of an adverse patient response to a cancer treatment.

The present invention provides compositions and methods for treating cancer with peptide nucleic acid agents. In some embodiments, the present invention provides methods and compositions relating to peptide nucleic acid agents that target oncogenes. For example, the present invention provides compositions, including pharmaceutical compositions, comprising agents specific for BRAF V600E inhibition, or fragments or characteristic portions thereof. The present invention further provides various therapeutic and/or diagnostic methods of using BRAF V600E specific peptide nucleic acid agents and/or compositions.