# CHEETAH Center for the Structural Biology of HIV Infection, Restriction, and Viral Dynamics

> **NIH NIH U54** · UTAH STATE HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM--UNIVERSITY OF UTAH · 2022 · $303,315

## Abstract

CORE SUMMARY
This Core is designed to provide CHEETAH Center members with access to novel approaches for making, manipulating,
and identifying new biomolecules relevant to studies of different HIV-host systems under investigation in our Center.
Specifically, our Tools for Biopolymer Synthesis and Screening Core (Core 1) will develop new methodology and provide
Center members with access to state-of-the-art instrumentation and expertise in Peptide Synthesis, Protein Design, and
CRISPR Screening Methodology.
Component 1 (Peptide Synthesis) will provide synthetic peptide and protein reagents that are not readily accessible using
traditional recombinant expression systems. Since chemical synthesis provides complete atomic control over the
composition of peptides/proteins, this method is ideal for producing custom reagents containing labels (fluorophores,
isotopes), modifications (methylation, phosphorylation), and non-canonical components (mirror-image or other unusual
amino acids, cyclic or crosslinked peptides/proteins). Additionally, this Core will continue to develop novel chemical
peptide synthesis tools to expand the reach of chemical protein synthesis to larger and more challenging targets.
Component 2 (Protein Design) will collaborate with CHEETAH Center laboratories to use and extend cutting-edge
computational protein design methodologies to generate novel protein tools, reagents, and platforms in support of HIV-1
research. Specific advances will include incorporating deep learning methods into protein design pipelines and applying the
enhanced design approaches to optimize target protein expression, stability, and homogeneity.
Component 3 (CRISPR Screening Methodology) will perform CRISPR validation experiments and HIV-CRISPR screens
with existing CRISPR libraries, and also develop novel libraries to identify candidate host genes implicated in phenotypes
of interest to CHEETAH Center laboratories. The overall goals are to: 1) uncover and highlight functionally relevant host
protein targets for further study, and 2) provide expertise for functional validation studies.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10508314
- **Project number:** 1U54AI170856-01
- **Recipient organization:** UTAH STATE HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM--UNIVERSITY OF UTAH
- **Principal Investigator:** Michael S Kay
- **Activity code:** U54 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $303,315
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-07-11 → 2027-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10508314

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10508314, CHEETAH Center for the Structural Biology of HIV Infection, Restriction, and Viral Dynamics (1U54AI170856-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10508314. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*