April 23, 2001
New Technology Will Enable Interface Between MALDI-TOF Mass
Spectrometry and High Resolution Separations
Applied Biosystems Group (NYSE:ABI - news), an Applera Corporation business, and Northeastern University today announced that Applied Biosystems has obtained an exclusive license to an enabling technology for the analysis of biological molecules. Barry Karger, Ph.D., a James L. Waters Professor of Analytical Chemistry and Director of the Barnett Institute of Chemical and Biological Analysis, and his colleagues at Northeastern University, Boston, developed this technology. The new technology provided under this license, referred to as the vacuum deposition interface, should lead to significant enhancements to throughput, sensitivity of detection and automation of the analysis of proteins, peptides and other biomolecules. This technology is expected to have applicability for the development of high throughput proteomics processes.
Northeastern University's vacuum deposition interface is expected to help address key challenges facing proteomics today, including the need for rapid identification and quantification of low concentrations of proteins contained in complex samples such as human tissue and blood serum. This technology enables a higher degree of integration between advanced high performance separations systems such as liquid chromatography and capillary electrophoresis with MALDI mass spectrometry.
MALDI mass spectrometry, one of the most prominent protein analysis tools in use today, is not routinely interfaced to powerful and automated separation technologies. The vacuum deposition interface should have particular utility when combined with other technologies under development at Applied Biosystems. These technologies include a new generation of MALDI mass spectrometry, called tandem time of flight, and new advanced separation approaches for proteins, peptides and other bio-molecules.
``The development of the vacuum deposition interface represents the type of innovation we are committed to bringing to proteomics researchers,'' said Michael W. Hunkapiller, Ph.D., president of Applied Biosystems. ``This technology is an important addition to Applied Biosystems' family of integrated proteomics solutions.''
``We are pleased that Applied Biosystems has licensed the vacuum deposition interface, as we believe the technology offers powerful new approaches to protein expression analysis in the field of proteomics,'' Dr. Karger said... |
