PROTEOME SCIENCES ANNOUNCES DEVELOPMENT OF SENSITIZER® A UNIQUE METHOD FOR DRAMATICALLY IMPROVING THE SENSITIVITY OF MASS SPECTROMTERS BY 100 TIMES.
Press Release 17th March 2003
Proteome Sciences plc (Proteome Sciences), one of the world’s leading proteomics companies specialising in the discovery of biomarkers and therapeutic targets, is pleased to announce that it has developed Sensitizer, a unique method of enhancing the sensitivity 100 fold of mass spectrometers for the identification of biomarkers. This is a particularly important development as mass spectrometry is central to modern proteomics.
Sensitizer®, a new reagent employs elegant novel chemistry for labelling peptide fragments. It is particularly compatible with laser-assisted desorption mass spectrometry including MALDI-TOF and SELDI-TOF. The use of Sensitizer® has dramatically improved the mass spectrometry output at Proteome Sciences’ facility in Frankfurt, Germany.
The introduction of high-throughput mass spectrometers capable of achieving very high mass accuracy has ensured that proteomics has become a key tool in the understanding of many biological processes. The combination of two-dimensional gel-electrophoresis (2DE) and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionisation-time of flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry allows many proteins to be identified without the need for full de novo sequencing. However, even with the completion of the human genome sequence, there are still many proteins that cannot be identified through this approach due to the volume and complexity of the proteins it seeks to analyse. One reason for this may be the inability of many peptides within a mixture to ionise efficiently, a problem that is exacerbated for less abundant molecules. Sensitizer® overcomes these problems and increases peptide visibility 100-fold compared with an unlabelled peptide.
Sensitizer® clearly has the advantage of significantly improving the output of mass spectrometry systems. Importantly, it also can reduce costs. Through increasing the number of proteins identified by peptide mass fingerprinting, considerably fewer samples are subjected to full de novo sequencing using time-consuming tandem mass spectrometry. Crucially of benefit is the fact that Sensitizer® requires no modifications to the mass spectrometry machines or the data analysis software.
Proteome Sciences is in discussions with prospective licensees to make Sensitizer® technology available to all users of mass spectrometry equipment and the wider proteomics community. This will allow Proteome Sciences to maximise the commercial value of Sensitizer® whilst remaining focused on its core biomarker and therapeutic target discovery business.
Proteomics, the study of the expressed protein content of biological materials, is revolutionising the search for new markers of disease and the discovery of new therapeutic targets. The global market size is predicted to be worth an annual US$5.6bn by 2005.
Commenting on this development, Christopher Pearce, Chief Executive of Proteome Sciences said:
“In Sensitizer, our leading edge laboratory in Frankfurt has developed what is clearly a groundbreaking chemical reagent that has the capability to take the effectiveness of mass spectrometry on to a new level."
“We have already seen the outstanding results it has produced in our own facilities where we have dramatically increased the number of proteins detected in a highly cost effective manner. We believe Sensitizer will provide all users of mass spectrometry with the ability to significantly increase the quantity and quality of data they produce.” |
