About INCT – National Institutes of Science and Technology
The Brazilian Ministry of Science and Technology created the Program of National Institutes of Science and Technology (INCT) to articulate the best group of research in areas of sustainable development, to launch fundamental science in a competitive international scenario, to stimulate high tech research, to promote innovation and entrepreneurs, together with innovative companies. Ministry of Science and Technology coordinates the INCTs and managed by the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) and Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES). (text removed from INCT website)
CQMED as INCT
CQMED is a INCT (National Institute of C & T or Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia) since 2017, which is sponsored by the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development – CNPQ, Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel – CAPES and São Paulo Research Foundation – FAPESP.
Our INCT is called the OpenMedChem and our aim is to unlock the potential of relevant proteins by developing a package of protocols and reagents that enable researchers to elucidate the biological function of these proteins. The package of research tools will include expression clones, protein purification protocols, antibodies, crystal structure, enzymatic assays and a chemical inhibitor. These “target-enabling packages” (TEPs) will be published openly and will provide the research community with a mechanism to greatly expand their capabilities.
To ensure that Brazilian scientists benefit from these tools, our INCT is committing to make them available to all interested researchers through open science. Our INCT is focusing on enabling protein research because this is often the “missing link” between genetics and functional biological studies. The proteins encoded by common and mutant disease-related genes, or proteins that are targets for antiparasitic drugs are often not studied because reagents and tools are not available. Our INCT will overcome this major hurdle to translational science.
Our Goal as INCT
To accelerate the research on the protein function through a strong network of multidisciplinary researchers, we proposed to generate Target Enabling Package (TEPs) for disease relevant proteins along the project.
Those packages include:
Expression clones
Methods for protein purification
Crystal Structure
Validate commercial or develop specific antibodies
Protein activity assays
Chemical probes for use as modulators of human cell function; to generate further information on the proteomics, the impact of mutations, and the physiology of the target proteins.
All data and reagents generated from our INCT will be freely shared with the scientific community and companies. All TEPs will be published here in the website (link para publications) and scientific journal.
All knowledge generated here will be used by research groups applied in biology and products, and thus we can target society in a fast and efficient way. How do we choose the target protein to be studied?
How can you nominate a TEP?
Any academic or industry groups can nominate target protein, based on their research. We have offered the possibility of target nomination to Principal Investigators from other INCTs and also to other academic groups. We aim to attract scientific groups who are leaders in their area of expertise, to accelerate the knowledge and availability of tools in various disease-related fields.
A target-protein must meet the following requirements:
The protein has to be understudied and related with a human disease
Protein production methods not fully described before
Crystal Structure not yet available in the PDB
Eventually, commercial antibodies could be available but have not been extensively tested
In vitro activity assays for the protein has to be developed
An initial chemical matter may be available but needs improvement in activity or selectivity against the protein
The suggestions will be evaluated by our Managing Commitee. The Research Groups which nominate the target protein can user our expertise and infrastructure to produce the protein and generate the initial protein structure. All research groups that nominate a target-protein must agree to release the data and reagent, as a principle of Open Science.
