Federal Grant Award Summary

Yale University received a $420,000 Project Grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) under the Biomedical Research and Research Training program (CFDA 93.859), effective July 1, 2026 through February 28, 2031. The award supports research to advance proximity labeling technology—a technique that creates localized reactive intermediates to tag and identify nearby proteins in their native cellular environments. The primary deliverables include the development and engineering of novel adenylate-forming enzymes optimized for in vivo applications, creation of biotin-independent chemical substrates suitable for use in mammalian cell cultures and mouse models, and characterization of labeling mechanisms to identify specific protein sites modified by the engineered enzymes. The research will address current limitations in applying proximity labeling to living organisms by reducing background interference from endogenous biotinylated proteins.

Additionally, the project will expand proximity labeling applications beyond proteomics to lipidomics through development of new chemical probes and methodologies. The work encompasses enzyme testing in bacterial and purified protein systems, substrate bioavailability and toxicity validation, and mechanistic investigations to support future in vivo proteomic and lipidomic analysis. The research will be conducted at Yale University's New Haven, Connecticut facilities, contributing to NIGMS's strategic priority of funding fundamental biomedical research that establishes scientific foundations for advances in disease understanding and treatment development.