# Validation

> How Peptone's Bellinzona BSL2 laboratory returns protein, assay, and live-cell evidence to each new design.

[View this page on Peptone](https://peptone.io/technology/translational/)

Live-cell imaging and cellular models close the design-make-test loop inside Peptone's BSL2 laboratory.

## Overview

Validation asks whether molecular design changes living biology.

- Peptone's 8,000 square foot Biosafety Level 2 laboratory sits inside the Product Engine, not at the end of it. Computational hypotheses move directly into protein production, functional assays, and living cellular models.
- Here, matched LNCaP cultures turn an AR-NTD binding hypothesis into time-resolved evidence. The observed response returns directly to the next experimental question and molecular design.

## At a glance

- 8,000 square foot BSL2 laboratory capacity in Bellinzona
- Protein expression and purification tuned for disordered and dynamic targets
- Biophysical characterization that reports directly on conformational behaviour
- Functional and cellular assays configured around each target hypothesis
- State-of-the-art label-free live-cell imaging across prostate cancer and additional cellular models
- A direct feedback path where experimental evidence recalibrates the next computational design

## Same binder. Differentiated biology.

To demonstrate biological validation, we follow PEP-2183, one of hundreds of molecules tested in Peptone's AR-NTD program. We compare AR-positive, androgen-dependent LNCaP prostate cancer cells in control and treatment conditions with AR-negative PC-3 prostate cancer cells to test whether the response follows the intended AR context.

### Control

### LNCaP + DMSO

Androgen-dependent LNCaP cells in vehicle establish the untreated expansion trajectory.

### Treatment

### LNCaP + PEP-2183

The same AR-positive model is followed under treatment with the PEP-2183 AR-NTD binder series.

### Specificity

### PC-3 + PEP-2183

PEP-2183-treated PC-3 cells provide the matched receptor-negative context for interpreting the LNCaP response.

All three films contain observed embedded segmentation overlays recolored to Peptone violet and use matched observations from baseline through day 7. The overlays support visual comparison but are not presented here as quantitative cell counts, confluence, viability, death, potency, or statistical measurements.

## A selective cellular response.

PEP-2183 slows LNCaP growth, while AR-negative PC-3 cells keep growing.

### Outcomes

### Lncap

#### LNCaP

AR-positive

Inhibited

Growth slows under treatment.

### Pc3

#### PC-3

AR-negative

No observed effect

Growth continues under treatment.

### Dimensions

### Inhibition

Does growth stop?

Automated imaging resolves whether treatment changes the cellular trajectory.

### Potency

At what dose?

Repeating the workflow across concentrations locates the effective response range.

### Selectivity

Only in the intended context?

Receptor-positive and receptor-negative models separate intended activity from background effect.

### Handoff

### Evidence guides the next design.

Response, dose, and cellular context define its constraints.