SAN DIEGO, April 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Aurora Biosciences Corporation (Nasdaq: ABSC - news) today announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued U.S. Patent No. 6,214,563 entitled ``Photon Reducing Agents For Reducing Undesired Light Emission in Assays.'' The patent is the second of a family of related patents on the use of Aurora's enhanced system solution (ESS) that provides for enhanced assay sensitivity and increased signal to noise ratios for high-throughput screening applications.
``The ESS technology represents a significant advance in the field of high-throughput screening using miniaturized assay formats,'' stated Christopher W. Krueger, Aurora's general counsel and vice president, Strategic Alliances. ``Aurora is pleased to have obtained extensive patent coverage on this enabling technology.''
Aurora's ESS technology takes advantage of the use of specific light-blocking or absorbing compounds to reduce light emission from the solution surrounding cells, or particles, comprising a luminescent or fluorescent probe or marker. Use of the light-reducing compounds enhances assay sensitivity by decreasing background light emission, thereby increasing the signal to noise ratio of the assay.
This second patent on ESS includes 88 claims to methods of use and kits for use in a wide range of assays, particularly those utilizing fluorescence or luminescence measurements. The methods are particularly advantageous for high-throughput screening applications that utilize miniaturized assay formats, where they significantly enhance assay performance. Specific examples of kits covered by this patent include reporter gene and enzyme assays based on the use of membrane permeable fluorescent substrates, as well as membrane potential assay kits which utilize the voltage-dependent distribution of a hydrophobic fluorescent molecule and which include the use of a blocking dye or quencher.
The claims of the patent include assay kits incorporating a photon-producing agent, such as a fluorescent reagent, packaged with a photon-reducing agent, such as a blocking dye or quencher, in which the photon-reducing agent is present at a concentration sufficient to reduce light emitted from the fluorescent reagent by at least ten percent.... |
