Industry News Roundup for February, 2016: Biotech

A novel self-enhanced electrochemiluminescence immunosensor based on hollow Ru-SiO2@PEI nanoparticles for NSE analysis

Poly (ethylenimine) (PEI) and Ru(bpy)32+-doped silica (Ru-SiO2) nanoparticles were simply mixed together to prepare a novel self-enhanced electrochemiluminescence (ECL) composite of Ru-SiO2@PEI. The hollow Ru-SiO2@PEI nanoparticles were used to build an ECL immunosensor for the analysis of neuron specific enolase (NSE). PEI not only assembled on the surface of Ru-SiO2 nanoparticles through the electrostatic interaction to act as co-reactant for Ru(bpy)32+ ECL, but also provided alkaline condition to etch the Ru-SiO2 nanoparticles to form the hollow Ru-SiO2@PEI nanoparticles with porous shell. The unique structure of the Ru-SiO2@PEI nanoparticles loaded both a large amount of Ru(bpy)32+ and its co-reactant PEI at the same time, which shortened the electron-transfer distance, thereby greatly enhanced the luminous efficiency and amplified the ECL signal. The developed immunosensor showed a wide linear range from 1.0 × 10−11 to 1.0 × 10−5 mg mL−1 with a low detection limit of 1.0 × 10−11 mg mL−1 for NSE. When the immunosensor was used for the determination of NSE in clinical human serum, the results were comparable with those obtained by using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method. The proposed method provides a promising alternative for NSE analysis in clinical samples.

Source: Nature.com

Bial's Fatal Clinical Trial in France Had Already Caused Deaths of Dogs in Earlier Tests

PARIS – An experimental chronic pain treatment that caused one death and left five others with possible brain damage in a French clinical lab was believed to be related to deaths in dogs in earlier clinical testing, the Telegraph of London reported this morning.

The Telegraph reported the details of the canine deaths were not reported by the laboratory conducting the tests for Portugal-based Bial-Portela were not disclosed due to “industrial secrecy.” The trial was being conducted by Bial, a clinical research organization in Rennes, France. Citing a report in the French paper Le Figaro, the Telegraph said a “number of dogs” died and others suffered neurological damage in preclinical trials of the drug. Bial has refused to reveal information about the preclinical data and the canine deaths.

Source: biospace.com

Bacteria take 'RNA mug shots' of threatening viruses

Scientists from The University of Texas at Austin, the Stanford University School of Medicine and two other institutions have discovered that bacteria have a system that can recognize and disrupt dangerous viruses using a newly identified mechanism involving ribonucleic acid (RNA). It is similar to the CRISPR/Cas system that captures foreign DNA. The discovery might lead to better ways to thwart viruses that kill agricultural crops and interfere with the production of dairy products such as cheese and yogurt.

Source: Sciencedaily.com

This is collected by Creative BioMart.

Creative BioMart Provides Quality and Comprehensive Assay Kits

An assay is an investigative method in laboratory medicine, pharmacology, natural science, and in addition molecular biology for subjectively evaluating the vicinity or measure of an objective substance. Assay kits, utilized as a part of life science research, drug disclosure and advancement, and ecological observing, have an extensive variety of utilization, for example, considering sickness pathways, screening for potential medication applicants and assessing biopharmaceutical production processes.

Since its inception, Creative BioMart has assisted scientists in the design and production of thousands of assay kits, with many resulting in high-impact citations. Recognized for its high quality standards and technical service, Creative BioMart has the knowledge and expertise to offer optimal assay kits to its customers.

Up to now, there are over 1670 assay kits offered in Creative BioMart including: U2OS C3AR1 Bioassay Kit, eXpress C5AR1 Activated GPCR Internalization Assay, CAMKK2 Assay Kit, cAMP CHO-K1 SSTR2 Bioassay Kit, CSF3R-JAK1 Bioassay Kit, Phosphate Assay Kit (Fluorometric), Fixable Dead Cell Staining Kit (Green Fluorescence 405), PKC kinase activity Kit, etc.

With assay kits in Creative BioMart, customers will receive all necessary reagents, plates, instructions, and analysis tools to help them find answers quickly and efficiently. We truly understand that our customers’ research is being done with finite time and money, so we create and refine our kits to be affordable and to provide fast, accurate results. Bulk assays and reagent sales are available upon your request. Please visit http://www.creativebiomart.net/product/assay-kits_358.htm for more information or just contact at info@creative-biomart.com & call 1-631-559-9269.

About Creative BioMart
Creative BioMart provides quality recombinant proteins, diagnostic antibodies and antigens, diagnostic enzymes and pharmaceutical enzymes to the research community of biology, clinical research, molecular diagnostics and biopharmaceutical drug development. We are offering more than 1,000 recombinant proteins, peptides and antibodies. All the products are rigorously tested to meet the most demanding research needs. At the same time, lowest prices in the industry are always guaranteed.

Contact Creative BioMart
Address: 45-16 Ramsey Road Shirley, NY 11967, USA
Tel: 1-631-559-9269
Email: info@creative-biomart.com
Website: www.creativebiomart.net

Cell Line Development and Membrane Preparation in Creative BioMart

A cell line is a permanently established cell culture that will proliferate indefinitely given appropriate fresh medium and space. High quality cells and membranes supply is the key factor in GPCR & ion channel screening/profiling. 

With accumulated experience in the biotech field, Creative BioMart utilizes a proprietary technology to enable the expression of membrane proteins in mammalian cells at over a million molecules per cell surface. Supported by proprietary codon optimization and vector design technologies, scientists in Creative BioMart has developed a large product portfolio that covering almost 200 GRCR and ion channel stable cell lines. Moreover, to meet its customers’ different needs for the assay reagent products, membrane preparation and ready-to-use frozen cells products made from those stable cell lines are also available in Creative BioMart.

To be specific, Creative BioMart mainly serves the following four services for its Cell line development and membrane preparation service:

Stable cell line service for assay development
Stable cell line development is one of the important steps to develop a cell-based assay development. The company can deliver cell line of interest with high quality at fast turnaround time.

GPCR & Ion Channel Stable Cell Lines
The company provides a large collection of GPCR and ion channel stable cell lines for compound screening/profiling services. Furthermore, the customers can buy the stable cell lines and perform a screening project in-house.

GPCR & Ion Channel Membrane Preparation
With the application of high-expression GRCR & ion channel stable cell lines, Creative BioMart offers cell membrane preparations validated by receptor binding assays. Custom membrane preparation services are also available in Creative BioMart.

Frozen Cell Production 
It’s known that cell culturing is often challenging and time-consuming. Based on its state-of-the-art cell culture facilities, Creative BioMart’s cell culture service can quickly deliver the frozen cells that satisfy the needs of its customers’ individual project on time.

Key features of the service
Large cell line collection
Reliability
Convenience
Variability arrest

For more information about the membrane preparation service in Creative BioMart, please contact 1-631-559-9269.

Do you know biomarker?

Biomarker refers to the biochemical indicators that marking the changes of structure or function in systems, organs, tissues, cells and subcellular. It can be used for disease diagnosis, determining the stage of disease or to evaluate the safety and efficacy of new drugs or new therapies in the target population.

For disease research, biomarker generally refers to a biochemical indicator for objective measurement and evaluation of certain characteristics of general physiological or pathological or therapeutic procedure. The biological process of the body can be measured through biomarker testing. Checking of a disease-specific biomarkers may be helpful for the identification of disease, early diagnosis, prevention and treatment, and monitoring in the process of treatment. The search of valuable biomarkers has become an important focus of current research.

Classification

Biomarker of exposure

Biomarker of effect

Biomarker of susceptibility

Select principle

1. The selected biomarkers must have a certain specificity;

2. The selected biomarkers must have sufficient sensitivity;

3. Repeatability and individual differences analyzed by the selected biomarkers must within the acceptable range;

4. The selected biomarker must have sufficient stability for the transport, save and analysis of the sample;

Characteristics

1. Have certain sensitivity; higher than the general biological detection index;

2. Reactions have time effects; Reaction must have a certain setting time but fast;

3. The effect of the biomarker in the molecular and biochemical level must be closely related to the effect on the senior biology level (such as growth, reproduction); effect on all levels must have a causal relationship;

4. Have certain field value;

5. Specificity and early warning (eg. AchE)

Applications significance

Clarify the mechanism of various pollutants, determining the interaction between various pollutants and organisms; Combine with ecological effects to develop research programs to address environmental issues (such as population level drop, etc.).

Do you know High throughput screening?

Introduction
High throughput screening (HTS), is a technology system based on the experimental method of molecular and cellular level, micro-plate form as experimental tool carrier, operating system to perform automated testing process, sensitive and rapid detection equipment to collect experiment data, computer doing the analysis of data and at the same time detecting tens of millions of samples. It has the characteristics of trace, rapid, sensitive and accurate.

Features
High-throughput screening is boring for it has tens of millions of samples to be detected everyday. The operate is prone to feel tired and make mistakes. Automation system consists of a computer and its operating software, automated pipetting devices, incubation centrifugal equipment and stack. Automation system has many advantages over manual operation. It controls the whole process by the use of computer and its software, and the programming process is clear and concise.

Application
Full use of medicinal resources
The high throughput screening depends on a large number of samples, making it possible for the large-scale drug screening. It not only improves the chances of drug discovery but also increased the quality of drug discovery.

Micro screening system
The high throughput screening uses screening models at cellular and molecular level. The sample amount is generally in micrograms (μg), thus saving sample resources as well as experimental material.

Highly automated operation
With the emphasis on high throughput drug screening continues to improve, operation equipment and testing instruments used have made considerable progress. Computer-controlled automation achieved, incidence of operate error reduced and efficiency and accuracy of the results improved.

Combination of multi-disciplinary theories and techniques
In high throughput screening process, not only general pharmacological techniques and theory were applied, but also closely bind to medicinal chemistry, molecular biology, cell biology, mathematics, microbiology, computer science and other subjects.

Simple blood test can tell your age?

In a recently published study in Scientific Reports, scientists from Uppsala University have developed a simple blood test technology that can help reveal the body’s biological age, that is can tell your age.

Professor UIf Gyllensten pointed out that with the popularity of new technologies, the future will easily bring incentive medical interventions or help change the lifestyle of patients and monitor the effect. As the aging of our body and different organs, lifestyle factors such as smoking and stress will affect the body’s molecular processes and the aging rate.

Today, herein researchers have developed a simple blood detection technology that can help reveal how lifestyle affects our body’s aging. The researchers analyzed the level of various proteins in the blood sample form 1,000 individuals. By analyzing the protein levels can help evaluate the body’s biological age, weight, height and hip. Protein expression in the blood can be affected by a series of lifestyles and certain factors will accelerate the aging of the body, while other factors will slow the aging processes.

The researchers said, “We found smoking, high BMI and consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages to increase the predicted chronological age by 2-6 years, while consumption of fatty fish, drinking moderate amounts of coffee and exercising reduced the predicted age by approximately the same amount.” Thus, this method can be applied to dried blood spots and my be useful in forensic medicine to provide basic anthropometrical measures for an individual based on a biological evidence.

Novel Anti-Cancer Method

In a novel study recently published in Nature Structural and Molecular Biology, scientists from the University of Surrey have found some important proteins that perform and regulate key biological process. When those proteins or the process fail to function, cancer and other diseases would come. This finding may help develop more effective methods for the treatment of incurable and debilitating disease.

In this study, the research team has, for the first time, analyzed a kind of important regulatory proteins-RNA binding proteins in baker’s yeast and roundworms as well as their interactions with mRNA (an important molecule that guides protein synthesis). Although these two organisms are very different, but scientists discovered in the protein revealed amazing evolutionarily conservation, which means however, metabolic enzymes-the team believes it has existed for billions of years-have new features.

André Gerber, first author of this article said: “This is an important breakthrough, because the protein and process we identified also present in human beings. We knew that they have a strong relationship with a number of diseases like cancers and neurodegenerative diseases. Now we can use new knowledge to test if the case-a new mechanism that control key biological processes-can bring effective treatment for cancers.”

Dr. Emma Laing, co-author of this article said: “It may be that before the show of protein, RNA drives this function, going back to the old mechanism, or it may be that these proteins have a hidden feature that we do not know now.”