Nuclera and leadXpro provide shot in the arm for membrane protein programmes
Nuclera is enabling rapid access to high-quality proteins and has grown from a number of international operations. leadXpro is a specialist in structure-based drug discovery for membrane proteins.
It is located between the pharmaceutical and biotech hubs of Basel and Zurich and shares a site with the Paul Scherrer Institute, a world-class facility for structural biology.
Membrane proteins remain among the most valuable yet difficult to obtain drug targets. These proteins are notoriously challenging to express and purify in sufficient quantity and quality for structural biology and biophysical studies, limiting drug discovery programs even when promising biology is well understood.
Integrating eProtein Discovery’s Cell-Free Protein Synthesis multiplex screening technology with leadXpro’s AI/ML and biophysical and structural characterisation expertise, the partnership will establish an AI-guided, iterative, end-to-end workflow.
The workflow will link in silico construct design with rapid, experimental multiplex screening to accelerate and de-risk challenging membrane protein programs, shortening the path to structural and biophysical insights for structure-based drug discovery.
Membrane protein constructs will be screened using Nuclera’s eProtein Discovery System with the most promising variants undergoing detailed biophysical characterisation and high-resolution cryo-EM structure determination led by leadXpro.
Insights from these studies will be integrated into AI/ML models for construct design and stability predictions, improving yields, functionality, and success rates.
The partnership will also inform future integration of AI/ML capabilities into Nuclera’s product portfolio to embed predictive design into the eProtein Discovery System, and strengthen leadXpro’s platform in rapidly producing and charactersing difficult membrane protein targets.
Dr Michael Chen, CEO and co-founder, Nuclera, said: “Scientists are under pressure to progress increasingly complex membrane protein programs faster. By partnering with leadXpro, we can pair AI/ML-driven construct design with our rapid multiplex membrane protein screening to provide a truly ‘lab-in-loop’ workflow.
“This collaboration is an important step towards embedding AI/ML into Nuclera’s system so that researchers can go from sequence to high-value structural and functional insights in a fraction of the time currently required.”
Dr Michael Hennig, CEO, leadXpro, said: “Access to well-optimised membrane protein constructs is critical for producing high-quality proteins that enable biophysical and structural biology studies. Nuclera’s eProtein Discovery platform provides a robust, rapid, and reproducible approach to exploring construct space.
“Combined with our established AI/ML and structural biology expertise, this integration allows us to support better design decisions earlier and accelerate the progression of promising drug candidates.”