ExpressCells Co-founder Publishes New Data Derived from Cells Gene-Edited with FAST-HDR

PHILADELPHIA - Feb. 15, 2023 - PRLog -- ExpressCells, Inc., a biotechnology company that does gene editing as an outsourced service for pharma, biotech, and academic researchers, is proud that our Co-Founder, Oscar Perez Leal, MD, has published a new article in the journal Biomolecules. This article outlines a practical use of gene-edited cell lines created by ExpressCells' patented FAST-HDR method.

The article, "Identification of Inhibitors of Tubulin Polymerization Using a CRISPR-Edited Cell Line with Endogenous Fluorescent Tagging of β-Tubulin and Histone H1", uses a cell line with two genetically modified genes, each one labeled with  a different fluorescent protein. This cell line allowed the direct use of high-content imaging analysis for cellular segmentation and microtubule network detection without requiring cell fixing or immunostaining. With this method, three compounds were identified in a group of 429 kinase inhibitors as tubulin polymerization inhibitors.

Dr. Perez said:  "These findings suggest that CRISPR-edited cells can be utilized to screen large compound libraries containing diverse chemical families without laborious procedures to detect the targets under study. This can save researchers both time and money. This was one my goals when I developed the FAST-HDR process." He added:  "this will assist scientists who are seeking potential therapeutics in cancer and other major diseases."

Dr. Perez, who is also an Assistant Professor in the Temple University School of Pharmacy, invented the FAST-HDR gene editing technology in his academic laboratory. This technology has been awarded a United States patent and pending European patent. ExpressCells has global, exclusive rights to this technology.

About ExpressCells

Founded in 2018, ExpressCells is a private biotechnology company based in Philadelphia, PA. Its uses the FAST-HDR plasmid system, in combination with CRISPR/Cas9, to support of biological researches in pharma, biotech, and academia. FAST-HDR is both faster than other gene editing technologies and can handle harder projects. ExpressCells sells both custom-made cell lines—each designed to meet the specific requirements of an individual scientist—and catalog cell lines.

The article is available online at http://mdpi.com/2218-273X/13/2/249. For more information or to request gene-editing services from ExpressCells, visit http://www.xpresscells.com/.