The iNEXT-Discovery consortium, coordinated by NKI and Oncode Investigator Prof. Dr. Anastassis Perrakis, aims to facilitate the generation of knowledge for the development of new drugs, advanced vaccines, novel biomaterials, engineered enzymes for food production, efficient biofuels, and other benefits. iNEXT-Discovery will do that by enabling leading European facilities to offer advanced technological instrumentation and expertise to all European scientists, allowing them to perform high-end structural biology research with state-of-the-art equipment that is often unavailable in their home countries.
Advancing technologies beyond the state of the art
Joining forces within the iNEXT-Discovery consortium also enables the partners to collaborate in joint research activities that will allow new and better ways to perform structural biology experiments. iNEXT-Discovery will build on the expertise of the partners to: further consolidate the strong role of structural biology in drug development by developing fragment-based lead discovery; develop tools to increase the throughput for electron microscopy and serial X-ray crystallography; integrate structural biology technologies; push nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and other technologies to better describe time scales, molecular states and dynamics; and integrate structural biology approaches for imaging cells.
iNEXT-Discovery and Oncode
Structural Biology methods are central to the development of new drugs and biologics. Anastassis Perrakis explains: “An important step in drug lead development, is measuring the strength of interaction of therapeutic compounds with their target; that is what the Protein Facility at the NKI, which is available to Oncode investigators, will focus to provide to the world”. iNEXT-Discovery can offer many more opportunities to Oncode investigators: “For example, iNEXT, the predecessor of iNEXT-Discovery, has allowed Geert Kops and his group to look at particles of the Spindly protein they were working on by electron microscopy. This has proved extremely valuable for that story, helped demonstrate the use of EM for basic research in Oncology, and motivated Oncode to invest on a similar facility that is now operational at the NKI.
Enabling research without borders
iNEXT-Discovery includes partners from institutions outside of the facility providers that also collaborate on planned joint research projects. Anastassis Perrakis explains: “Together with regional experts, specifically from the Baltic and Balkan countries, and with five ESFRI communities in the fields of health, biotechnology, and food, we are offering cutting-edge technologies and novel experimental possibilities to all European scientists, enabling experiments that would be impossible without our facilities”. Integration will be further enabled through the extensive and inclusive training program that the iNEXT-Discovery has developed, and that will be deployed in the coming four years.
How to access iNEXT-Discovery facilities
Access to all facilities will be available through an open peer review system that is based on scientific excellence and the potential of each project for enabling translational research. While iNEXT-Discovery expects Open Access publication from all users, it also enables researchers from industry to access its facilities as a fee-for-service, through a dedicated access portal. Starting from the 1st of February 2020, iNEXT-Discovery will be open for applications.