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GENOMICS & PROTEOMICS
Protein multiplex assays empower functional proteomics by helping analyze and detect trace quantities of proteins in a high-throughput fashion
With so many potentially interesting drug targets at hand, the challenge now is to figure out which are the best targets; the more efficiently this selection is done, the better. Novel strategies for detecting and characterizing proteins are vital to this task. Extracting the highest biological information content from smallest sample volumes is of increasing demand in basic and clinical research. Microscale protein analyses targeted to the diversity of protein measurement with respect to expression, functional, and structural analysis and simultaneous analysis of multiple proteins, multiplexing, are essential toward that goal.
Analogous to gene chips, protein chips are being developed and commercialized by Zyomyx Inc., Hayward, Calif. Zyomyx began by developing core competency in microscale protein analysis that had never been assembled before (see sidebar story), says Peter Wagner, PhD, senior vice president, chief technology officer at Zyomyx.
The first platform, the Zyomyx Protein Profiling Biochip System, was just launched this quarter. The platform enables quantitative expression analysis of known analytes in a wide variety of sample matrices for the discovery of unknown biomarker profiles. "The identification and measurement of biomarker profiles is a key enabling solution for validating therapeutic targets, evaluating drug mechanisms of action, and stratifying patients for clinical studies," Wagner says. The first product provides ready-to-use measurement of 30 different human cytokines in biological samples. Cytokines constitute an important class of biomarkers because of their involvement in processes such as inflammation, cancer, and infection. The ability to analyze multiple cytokines simultaneously provides a broader perspective conducive to furthering our understanding of biological mechanisms underlying disease. Only 14 mL of sample are needed for analysis on the biochip, which integrates microarray technology and immunoassay principles (ELISA).
High-affinity capture agents, which can be monoclonal or polyclonal antibodies or fragments thereof, are bound to the surface of Zyomyx biochips in order to detect specific proteins present in biological samples, such as synovial fluid, cell lysates, serum, plasma, or tissue culture supernatants. A unique surface chemistry consisting of a well-defined thin film enables immobilization of directionally oriented capture agents. Applied on top of the optimized chip architecture, which is composed of...