The National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) requires transcriptomics sequencing and analysis in liver spheroids. This requisition is requesting a contract to evaluate the RNA expression in liver toxicity associated with the systemic administration of antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) in previously tested human, rat and mouse animal models. The project's phase one goal is to develop a predictive model of candidate ASO therapies' safety and acute toxicity. NCATS is seeking technical support to evaluate the safety and acute liver toxicity of candidate ASOs by checking the gene expression. The results from these studies, in conjunction with existing cell-based assays, will help better predict the safety of future candidate ASOs intended for clinical use. The objective of this contract is to generate proof-of-concept data for evaluating the ability of the 3D liver microtissue platform to predict the hepatoxicity of individual ASOs. If successful, this will represent a new means to screen ASOs for this type of toxicity that is cheaper, faster, and has high throughput. NCATS is seeking technical support to evaluate the safety and acute liver toxicity of candidate ASOs by checking the gene expression. The results from these studies, in conjunction with existing cell-based assays, will help better predict the safety of future candidate ASOs intended for clinical use.
