Our Science and Technology
Q-State has developed world-leading technologies and proprietary approaches for probing rare and genetic CNS conditions.
Q-State has generated a significant array of technical capabilities that support our company’s scientific efforts. From cellular model development to proprietary experimental platforms and analytical methods, our technical expertise across multiple disciplines sets us apart from others in the space. Our science also powers rapid, comprehensive investigations of CNS disease that we leverage into our precision medicine services and our broader drug discovery efforts.
Human Cell-Based Disease Models
Recent advances in genome editing, stem cell protocols, and differentiation methods enable Q-State to create cell-based disease models with defined human genetic backgrounds that reference clinical data from patients. Q-State’s neuronal cell models, in particular, provide an outstanding foundation to better understand a gene’s contribution to disease.
Optogenetic Profiling
High-content, high-throughput imaging through Q-State’s proprietary all-optical electrophysiology system, OptopatchTM, enables the measurement of more than 100 electrophysiological properties at a rate of more than 10,000 cells per hour. These features power the functional characterization of an unprecedented numbers of cells, providing a uniquely powerful basis to identify core cellular disease mechanisms and screen for modulators of the disease phenotype.
Advanced Instrumentation
Custom microscope systems optically stimulate and record electrical activity in cells, in culture or in intact tissue, with unprecedented speed, sensitivity, and spatial resolution. Sophisticated algorithms enable automated operations with machine-learning capabilities to convert vast datasets into biologically meaningful data on both cellular function and drug response.
Molecular Phenotyping
For a particular genetic target, Q-State can tailor a comprehensive program from its repertoire of internal capabilities to generate new molecular learnings from both morphological and functional perspectives. Q-State applies advanced transcriptomics and proteomics to bolster its other technologies and provide a highly-detailed understanding of disease phenotype.
Antisense Oligonucleotide Design
Q-State works with global leaders in antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) technology to design ASOs in a research setting that can prevent the production of a toxic protein or rescue expression of a protein to yield a beneficial effect. These ASO candidates are tested in relevant cellular disease models and functionally assessed with Q-State’s technologies to determine the extent of phenotype rescue.
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