Resistance and sensitivity maps at residue resolution.

Compound–Target Assay uses geneSlice-powered saturation mutagenesis to map drug binding, drug response, and resistance pathways.

Compound–Target Assay uses geneSlice-powered saturation mutagenesis to identify which amino acid residues of your drug target matter for compound binding, drug response, and acquired resistance. The result is a residue-level map that informs medicinal chemistry optimisation and anticipates resistance pathways before they emerge in patients.

What this service answers

Four questions, one assay

  • Which residues of my target are essential for compound binding?
  • Which substitutions could block drug binding, or drive constitutive activation?
  • Where should we focus medicinal chemistry optimisation to make compounds harder to escape?
  • What resistance signatures should we expect, and how can we counter them with combinations?
How it works

Saturation mutagenesis with a matched readout.

We perform saturation mutagenesis across the region of your drug target you want to interrogate — typically the binding pocket or full functional domain. Using geneSlice, we generate a cell library in which each cell carries a different substitution of the target, then screen the library against your compound using a cell-based reporter assay.

A common architecture leverages synthetic lethality — a cell line that depends on the drug target for survival, so loss-of-function and resistance variants score directly through cell viability — but the readout is matched to the question.

Figure
Saturation mutagenesis schematic — library across binding pocket, reporter readout
800 × 500
Residue-level mapping via saturation mutagenesis and matched cell-based readout.
Deliverables

What you receive

  • Residue-level functional scores for every variant tested.
  • Resistance and sensitivity heatmaps along the protein sequence.
  • Structural mapping onto the target's 3D structure, where structural data is available.
  • Raw data and analysis reports.
How a project runs

Standard geneSlice pipeline

Typically 6–12 months end-to-end, following the standard geneSlice project pipeline. See Technology.

Discuss your compound–target project.

Tell us your target, compound stage, and what you need to know.

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