Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Biotech / Medical : PROTEOMICS -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: tuck who wrote (507)	12/18/2003 9:52:02 AM
From: nigel bates	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 539

Protometrix Protein Microarrays Offer First-of-Its-Kind Method to Discover Improved Antibodies for Research and Medical Use Thursday December 18, 9:01 am ET Fast, Accurate Antibody Specificity Profiling Across Entire Proteomes Using Yeast ProtoArray(TM) Reported in Nature Biotechnology BRANFORD, Conn., Dec. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Protometrix, Inc. announced today the publication of a new study in the December Nature Biotechnology describing a novel approach using the company's Yeast ProtoArray(TM), to yield -- for the first time -- efficient, proteome-wide knowledge about antibody-protein interactions. The protein microarray technology will help accelerate development of medical, diagnostic and research antibodies, and offer the potential to significantly improve the speed and success rates of innovative antibody-based drugs. "The study documents that the Protometrix Yeast ProtoArray(TM) technology can characterize antibody interactions across proteomes comprised of thousands of functional proteins with massive efficiency. We can learn about antibody interactions beyond their intended molecular targets, which will provide unprecedented knowledge about antibody specificity, a key factor in determining the likelihood that an antibody may trigger an undesirable biological response or may generate misleading experimental test results," said Paul Predki, Ph.D., Protometrix vice president of research. The publication entitled, "Analyzing Antibody Specificity with Whole Proteome Microarrays," describes the detailed interaction of publicly available polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies targeted at specific yeast proteins. Using the Yeast ProtoArray(TM), comprised of more than four thousand unique proteins representing a majority of the proteome of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisaie, investigators demonstrated that a number antibodies thought to be specific for a unique protein actually cross-react with tens to hundreds of unanticipated proteins. "Our results using the Yeast ProtoArray imply that similar studies on human proteome-scale microarrays will facilitate early characterization of human antibodies allowing researchers to discriminate specific antibodies from non-specific, or 'dirty' antibodies," stated Dr. Predki. "Protometrix intends to leverage its proteome microarray expertise to develop and provide similar functional protein knowledge and customized microarrays for other pharmaceutically relevant organisms, including mouse, rat and dog, for use in applications ranging from pathway mapping, target identification and biomarker discovery to drug profiling and toxicity testing." Dr. Predki added that the company's Yeast ProtoArray(TM) product is now available for purchase on a limited basis. About Proteomes Each cell contains genetic material, or genes, which comprises the "instructions" to make the proteins that provide structure or functions to the cell or the entire organism. The complete collection of an organism's expressed proteins is called the proteome. Scientists profile the proteomes of each cell type and use tests to characterize a protein's function and interaction with other proteins. They also strive to determine the protein differences between healthy and diseased cells. The interaction of the powerful immune system's proteins called antibodies with the cell surface proteins, such as protein receptors, offer proven and effective means for developing novel drug treatments and diagnostics. ProtoArray technology provides knowledge that makes the identification of new antibodies faster and more accurate. About Protometrix Protometrix, Inc. is a privately held biotechnology company focused on harnessing the power of the proteome to yield previously unattainable knowledge that will accelerate the discovery of drugs and diagnostic products and reduce drug failure rates. Protometrix provides researchers access to functional protein content representing vast portions of the proteomes of pharmaceutically relevant organisms, such as human, mouse, rat, dog and yeast, in a high productivity microarray format. These protein microarrays can be readily employed throughout pharmaceutical and diagnostic research for numerous applications including pathway mapping, target identification, biomarker discovery, drug profiling and toxicity testing. For more information, including information on microarray products and custom microarray services, please visit our Web site at www.protometrix.com