Check out this TED talk from MCB Alum Chris Bahl (Madden Lab @dartmouthbcb.bsky.social). Chris is Founder and CEO of @aiproteins.com, which also just raised $41.5M Series A financing to advance de novo miniproteins as a new therapeutic modality 🤯
www.businesswire.com/news/home/20...
www.businesswire.com/news/home/20...
November 20, 2025 at 9:39 PM
Check out this TED talk from MCB Alum Chris Bahl (Madden Lab @dartmouthbcb.bsky.social). Chris is Founder and CEO of @aiproteins.com, which also just raised $41.5M Series A financing to advance de novo miniproteins as a new therapeutic modality 🤯
www.businesswire.com/news/home/20...
www.businesswire.com/news/home/20...
AI Proteins has closed a $41.5 million Series A financing to accelerate the development of de novo #miniproteins! The round was led by Mission BioCapital and SANTÉ, with robust participation from existing investors.
See the official press release for details:
www.businesswire.com/news/home/20...
See the official press release for details:
www.businesswire.com/news/home/20...
November 20, 2025 at 8:02 PM
AI Proteins has closed a $41.5 million Series A financing to accelerate the development of de novo #miniproteins! The round was led by Mission BioCapital and SANTÉ, with robust participation from existing investors.
See the official press release for details:
www.businesswire.com/news/home/20...
See the official press release for details:
www.businesswire.com/news/home/20...
Great talk by Xuechen Li at #ISCPDD. He talked about the use of #miniproteins in #DrugDiscovery. Exciting insights into the synthesis of large libraries and their screening by #PhageDisplay including the use of mirror image phage display.
pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
#ChemSky #ChemBio #Peptides
pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
#ChemSky #ChemBio #Peptides
Discovery of d-Miniprotein Inhibitors of PD-1/PD-L1 Interaction via Mirror-Image Phage Display against Synthetic d-PD-1
As a member of the immune checkpoint, PD-1 is acknowledged as a key player in immune regulation and a hot target for cancer immunotherapy. The broad and flat binding interface of PD-1 to PD-L1 poses a...
pubs.acs.org
November 20, 2025 at 4:50 AM
Great talk by Xuechen Li at #ISCPDD. He talked about the use of #miniproteins in #DrugDiscovery. Exciting insights into the synthesis of large libraries and their screening by #PhageDisplay including the use of mirror image phage display.
pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
#ChemSky #ChemBio #Peptides
pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
#ChemSky #ChemBio #Peptides
(CEJ) To What Extent a Synthetic Strategy Can Influence the Structure, Molecular Dynamics, and Biological Properties of Cyclic Tryptophan Cage Miniproteins: Chemistry – A European Journal, EarlyView. (/CEJ)
To What Extent a Synthetic Strategy Can Influence the Structure, Molecular Dynamics, and Biological Properties of Cyclic Tryptophan Cage Miniproteins
Chemistry – A European Journal, EarlyView.
dlvr.it
November 19, 2025 at 12:05 PM
(CEJ) To What Extent a Synthetic Strategy Can Influence the Structure, Molecular Dynamics, and Biological Properties of Cyclic Tryptophan Cage Miniproteins: Chemistry – A European Journal, EarlyView. (/CEJ)
This is the foundation for our next chapter at @aiproteins.com. We’ve industrialized the process of creating #miniproteins de novo while fully controlling every aspect of their activity and properties.
November 11, 2025 at 5:06 PM
This is the foundation for our next chapter at @aiproteins.com. We’ve industrialized the process of creating #miniproteins de novo while fully controlling every aspect of their activity and properties.
In this talk, I explain how our #miniproteins can interact with as many targets as needed to deliver the exact therapeutic outcome that patients require. This level of sophistication is unprecedented and will impact indications across oncology, inflammation, and beyond.
November 11, 2025 at 5:06 PM
In this talk, I explain how our #miniproteins can interact with as many targets as needed to deliver the exact therapeutic outcome that patients require. This level of sophistication is unprecedented and will impact indications across oncology, inflammation, and beyond.
Massively Parallel Free Energy Calculations for In Silico Affinity Maturation of Designed Miniproteins | Journal of Chemical Theory and Computation pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
Massively Parallel Free Energy Calculations for In Silico Affinity Maturation of Designed Miniproteins
Computational protein design efforts continue to make remarkable advances, yet the discovery of high-affinity binders typically requires large-scale experimental screening of site-saturated mutant (SS...
pubs.acs.org
November 8, 2025 at 1:30 AM
Massively Parallel Free Energy Calculations for In Silico Affinity Maturation of Designed Miniproteins | Journal of Chemical Theory and Computation pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
We go after targets that require generalization. E.g. we tested 15 nanobodies against each of 9 targets selected for their dissimilarity to any protein with an existing bound structure. For 6 of 9 targets we obtain nM binders. The same 67% success rate holds for miniproteins 🤗
October 26, 2025 at 10:40 PM
We go after targets that require generalization. E.g. we tested 15 nanobodies against each of 9 targets selected for their dissimilarity to any protein with an existing bound structure. For 6 of 9 targets we obtain nM binders. The same 67% success rate holds for miniproteins 🤗
A recent review by Ullrich et al highlights the advances in constrained peptides and compact proteins, showing how cyclic, stapled, and AI-designed miniproteins offer stability and precision for tough targets, shaping the future of drug discovery.
#AusJChem #openaccess
connectsci.au/ch/article/7...
#AusJChem #openaccess
connectsci.au/ch/article/7...
Shaping the future of constrained peptides and compact proteins in drug discovery
Constrained peptides and compact proteins are exciting amino acid-based molecules with strong potential as new medicines. Smaller than antibodies, they can
connectsci.au
October 23, 2025 at 11:23 PM
A recent review by Ullrich et al highlights the advances in constrained peptides and compact proteins, showing how cyclic, stapled, and AI-designed miniproteins offer stability and precision for tough targets, shaping the future of drug discovery.
#AusJChem #openaccess
connectsci.au/ch/article/7...
#AusJChem #openaccess
connectsci.au/ch/article/7...
I should mention that the targets in the paper were not cherry picked, there weren’t 50 targets that didnt work and we did not include them. In fact, we did most of those targets specifically, because they failed for us with other methods. Did you try only peptides or also miniproteins?
October 18, 2025 at 8:31 AM
I should mention that the targets in the paper were not cherry picked, there weren’t 50 targets that didnt work and we did not include them. In fact, we did most of those targets specifically, because they failed for us with other methods. Did you try only peptides or also miniproteins?
Another tour-de-force from David Baker's lab : custom DNA-binding miniproteins to target specific DNA sequences for diverse applications in gene regulation and editing.
With David, nothing is impossible !
With David, nothing is impossible !
New online: Computational design of sequence-specific DNA-binding proteins
Computational design of sequence-specific DNA-binding proteins
Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, Published online: 12 September 2025; doi:10.1038/s41594-025-01669-4The authors develop a computational method to design small DNA-binding proteins (DBPs) that target specific sequences. Designed DBPs show structural accuracy and function in both bacterial and mammalian cells for transcriptional regulation.
go.nature.com
September 12, 2025 at 10:41 AM
Another tour-de-force from David Baker's lab : custom DNA-binding miniproteins to target specific DNA sequences for diverse applications in gene regulation and editing.
With David, nothing is impossible !
With David, nothing is impossible !
De Novo Design of Ultrahigh-Affinity Miniproteins Targeting PD-L1 for Non-Invasive Imaging: Preclinical Validation and First-in-Human Study https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.08.08.25333138v1
August 13, 2025 at 1:28 AM
De Novo Design of Ultrahigh-Affinity Miniproteins Targeting PD-L1 for Non-Invasive Imaging: Preclinical Validation and First-in-Human Study https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.08.08.25333138v1
The complexity of new functionalities enabled by thousands of non-canonical open reading frames potentially coding for miniproteins is just fascinating! I can see a lot of interesting #NMR studies on structure and function of #peptides
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
High-quality peptide evidence for annotating non-canonical open reading frames as human proteins
A major scientific drive is to characterize the protein-coding genome as it provides the primary basis for the study of human health. But the fundamental question remains: what has been missed in prio...
www.biorxiv.org
August 7, 2025 at 1:48 PM
The complexity of new functionalities enabled by thousands of non-canonical open reading frames potentially coding for miniproteins is just fascinating! I can see a lot of interesting #NMR studies on structure and function of #peptides
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
We’re kicking off Session 2 of the #KISymposium at 1:45 p.m.! Our 2nd session will feature the KI's Laurie Boyer, Dane Wittrup & Jeremiah Johnson, & Daša Lipovšek of Aktis Oncology. Join us for a deep dive into the world of antibody drug conjugates!
mit-ki.org/4jdKWuH
mit-ki.org/4jdKWuH
June 27, 2025 at 5:35 PM
We’re kicking off Session 2 of the #KISymposium at 1:45 p.m.! Our 2nd session will feature the KI's Laurie Boyer, Dane Wittrup & Jeremiah Johnson, & Daša Lipovšek of Aktis Oncology. Join us for a deep dive into the world of antibody drug conjugates!
mit-ki.org/4jdKWuH
mit-ki.org/4jdKWuH
We can't wait for the #KISymposium on June 27th! Our 2nd session of panels will feature the KI's Laurie Boyer, Dane Wittrup & Jeremiah Johnson, & Daša Lipovšek of Aktis Oncology. Join us for a deep dive into the world of antibody drug conjugates!
mit-ki.org/4jdKWuH
mit-ki.org/4jdKWuH
June 23, 2025 at 4:08 PM
We can't wait for the #KISymposium on June 27th! Our 2nd session of panels will feature the KI's Laurie Boyer, Dane Wittrup & Jeremiah Johnson, & Daša Lipovšek of Aktis Oncology. Join us for a deep dive into the world of antibody drug conjugates!
mit-ki.org/4jdKWuH
mit-ki.org/4jdKWuH
Chris shares his transition to industry when he created AI Proteins to develop miniproteins as a new therapeutic modality and how the Boston scientific community impacted his journey to becoming a biotech entrepreneur!
June 20, 2025 at 4:40 PM
Chris shares his transition to industry when he created AI Proteins to develop miniproteins as a new therapeutic modality and how the Boston scientific community impacted his journey to becoming a biotech entrepreneur!
Designed miniproteins potently inhibit and protect against MERS-CoV
Designed miniproteins potently inhibit and protect against MERS-CoV
Ragotte et al. de novo designed potent inhibitors of MERS-CoV. These homotrimeric molecules engage multiple copies of the MERS-CoV RBD on the spike protein to block engagement with host receptor DPP4, neutralize diverse MERS-CoV strains, and prophylactically protect against MERS-CoV disease in vivo when administered intranasally.
dlvr.it
June 4, 2025 at 11:23 PM
Designed miniproteins potently inhibit and protect against MERS-CoV
...translated elements are not yet integrated into molecular network maps [including] [various] open reading frames, microproteins, miniproteins, micropeptides... and more." What's more, she says, "Some are deeply conserved; others are species specific." And as Mikko Taipale cautions,... /2
May 21, 2025 at 4:07 PM
...translated elements are not yet integrated into molecular network maps [including] [various] open reading frames, microproteins, miniproteins, micropeptides... and more." What's more, she says, "Some are deeply conserved; others are species specific." And as Mikko Taipale cautions,... /2
AI assisted design of ligands for Lipocalin-2 [new]
AI creates LCN2-binding miniproteins using RFdiffusion/ProteinMPNN, filtered by AlphaFold2/Prodigy, yielding a nanomolar binder for potential therapeutics.
AI creates LCN2-binding miniproteins using RFdiffusion/ProteinMPNN, filtered by AlphaFold2/Prodigy, yielding a nanomolar binder for potential therapeutics.
May 19, 2025 at 3:38 PM
AI assisted design of ligands for Lipocalin-2 [new]
AI creates LCN2-binding miniproteins using RFdiffusion/ProteinMPNN, filtered by AlphaFold2/Prodigy, yielding a nanomolar binder for potential therapeutics.
AI creates LCN2-binding miniproteins using RFdiffusion/ProteinMPNN, filtered by AlphaFold2/Prodigy, yielding a nanomolar binder for potential therapeutics.
...e.g. for miniproteins). We need then to recognize a spectrum of functionality from lock-and-key type that probably does demand a lot of conservation to binding governed more by "bulk" features that do not hinge on precise sequence. (Condensates themselves totally support this idea.) /4
May 13, 2025 at 8:01 PM
...e.g. for miniproteins). We need then to recognize a spectrum of functionality from lock-and-key type that probably does demand a lot of conservation to binding governed more by "bulk" features that do not hinge on precise sequence. (Condensates themselves totally support this idea.) /4
#IPISeminar alert 🔔 Friday at 2 p.m. ET, Chris Bahl of AI Proteins will share the challenges of incorporating #artificialintelligence into #proteindesign & the impact reimagined #miniproteins can have on therapeutics. Join us through the QR code or follow the Zoom link on our calendar! rb.gy/xcee9l
May 1, 2025 at 2:08 PM
#IPISeminar alert 🔔 Friday at 2 p.m. ET, Chris Bahl of AI Proteins will share the challenges of incorporating #artificialintelligence into #proteindesign & the impact reimagined #miniproteins can have on therapeutics. Join us through the QR code or follow the Zoom link on our calendar! rb.gy/xcee9l
It was an honor to speak from the main stage at TED last week about our work at AI Proteins
Our mission is to design the next generation of therapeutics built from de novo #miniproteins, and this was an unbelievable opportunity to help shape the broader conversation about the future of biologics
Our mission is to design the next generation of therapeutics built from de novo #miniproteins, and this was an unbelievable opportunity to help shape the broader conversation about the future of biologics
April 15, 2025 at 4:26 PM
It was an honor to speak from the main stage at TED last week about our work at AI Proteins
Our mission is to design the next generation of therapeutics built from de novo #miniproteins, and this was an unbelievable opportunity to help shape the broader conversation about the future of biologics
Our mission is to design the next generation of therapeutics built from de novo #miniproteins, and this was an unbelievable opportunity to help shape the broader conversation about the future of biologics
Miniproteins: Protein Science
Click on the title to browse this issue
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
April 15, 2025 at 2:02 PM
RRID:SCR_022926 was used by the authors of the Rxiv paper "An Integrative Multitiered Computational Analysis for Better Understanding the Structure and Function of 85 Miniproteins". RRIDs like this improve reproducibility in scientific research. #ReproducibleResearch #OpenScience
doi.org
March 28, 2025 at 7:00 AM
RRID:SCR_022926 was used by the authors of the Rxiv paper "An Integrative Multitiered Computational Analysis for Better Understanding the Structure and Function of 85 Miniproteins". RRIDs like this improve reproducibility in scientific research. #ReproducibleResearch #OpenScience
Two-step design of miniprotein scaffolds capable of binding deep, inaccessible cavities in GPCRs that are usually unreachable by standard diffusion models
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
March 25, 2025 at 8:48 AM
Two-step design of miniprotein scaffolds capable of binding deep, inaccessible cavities in GPCRs that are usually unreachable by standard diffusion models
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...