The invention relates to methods for conducting solid-phase binding assays. One example is an assay method having improved analyte specificity where specificity is limited by the presence of non-specific binding interactions.

The invention relates to methods of identifying compounds that modulate mTORC1 activity in a cell by modulating the activity of CASTOR1, as well as to the use of such identified compounds in the modulation of mTORC1 and the treatment of diseases and conditions characterized by aberrant mTORC1 activity.

The invention generally relates to detection and analysis of biological materials. In particular; the invention relates to quantum dot-based optical, sensors and methods for rapid detection and quantitative analysis of various biomolecules and biological materials, such as nucleic acids, proteins, cells, etc.

The present disclosure provides a method of identifying a peptide antigen, including contacting an antibody-comprising composition to a peptide microarray having an array surface and a plurality of feature pairs disposed thereon. Each of the feature pairs includes a first feature of wild-type peptides having a defined sequence and a second feature of mutant peptides having the defined sequence with a single amino acid mutation. Each of the wild-type peptides and the mutant peptides has an array-coupled terminus coupled to the array surface and an opposing free terminus, and the position of the amino acid mutation in the mutant peptides is located closer to the array-coupled terminus of the mutant peptides than the free terminus. The method further includes detecting binding of an antibody in the antibody-comprising composition to at least one of the feature pairs on the peptide microarray, and identifying feature pairs exhibiting differential binding.

Methods are disclosed for identifying one or more proteins or polypeptides comprised by a sample. The methods comprise determining binding of each polypeptide with respect to each binding pool of a plurality of binding pools, wherein each binding pool comprises one or more probes which bind a structure comprised by a protein or polypeptide. In some aspects, polypeptides can be denatured and separated into individual polypeptide strands and immobilized on a solid support prior to determining binding of the binding pools. A protein, polypeptide or polypeptide strand can be identified by searching, in at least one database, for a protein or polypeptide sequence comprising binding pool targets either identical to or most similar to the binding pool targets comprised by the protein, polypeptide or polypeptide strand to be identified. Kits for identifying proteins, polypeptides and polypeptide strands are also disclosed.

Devices, systems and methods for detecting molecules in a solid state using UV lights in a dry condition are provided. Interaction between a plurality of molecules, a conformational change of a molecule, a size difference between a plurality of molecules and a presence of a molecule can be detected in a dry environment by measuring a light absorption in at least one of light transmission mode and light reflection mode. In a preferred embodiment, the measurement of a light absorption is performed at a wavelength of ultraviolet light between 260 nm and 285 nm.

The invention provides a method of identifying a peptide interaction site on a target protein wherein the target protein modulates the phenotype of a mammalian cell, using mammalian encoded peptides (SEPs) such as short open reading frame (sORF) encoded peptides. The invention further provides a method for the identification of new therapeutic targets and protein interaction sites for use in drug discovery.

Provided herein is a platform technology for designing stabilized peptides that covalently bind their target protein and thereby inhibit the activity of the target protein. Also provided are exemplary stabilized peptides that can be used for covalent modification of their target proteins.

Methods for proteomic screening on random protein-bead arrays by mass spec is described. Photocleavable mass tags are utilized to code a protein library (bait molecules) displayed on beads randomly arrayed in an array substrate. A library of probes (prey) can be mixed with the protein-bead array to query the array. Because mass spec can detect multiple mass tags, it is possible to rapidly identify all of the interactions resulting from this mixing.

Disclosed are methods of identifying binding moieties that recognize antigens displayed on cells, such as membrane proteins or recombinant proteins that display eptiopes on the surface of cells. Binding moieties capable of binding membrane proteins can be difficult to obtain because these proteins can depend on their native environments for structural integrity. In some methods scFv phage display libraries are panned against whole cells expressing a membrane protein in an emulsion. Certain methods further permit discrimination of binding moieties according to their affinity or avidity for a target. This approach allows rapid identification of cell surface epitope specific antibodies for research, diagnostics, and immunotherapeutics.