Development Of Non-Biohazardous p24 Antigen Expressing Synthetic Cells As A Reference Control Alternative To HIV+ Donor Samples

Slingshot Biosciences partnered with a Fortune 100 pharmaceutical company to address their interest in using HIV-1 p24 expression as a marker for translation-competent HIV-infected cells. The companies HIV treatment research requires the use of HIV-infected cells from viremic HIV+ blood donors, which present biohazard risks and limitations around sample variability.

Slingshot worked to engineer a p24-expressing, non-infectious synthetic T cell mimic that could safely, reproducibly, and conveniently be used as a cellular reference control for detecting p24 antigen-positive T-cells in HIV+ patients.