Development of a polyvalent assay system for lead identification

In an effort to identify new approaches to lead discovery a polyvalent assay was developed to allow identification of weak inhibitors. This approach involves the polyvalent display of a protein binder off a Tenta-gel® scaffold and the generation of a polyvalent display of protein by biotinylation followed by complexation with fluorescently labeled streptavidin. Subsequent exposure of the streptavidin complexed protein to Tenta-gel® beads with active protein binders results in fluorescent beads, which are easily viewed under a fluorescent microscope.