SelectScience
Join Free
Accelerating Science
NewsLife Sciences

Applied Biosystems announces co-development agreement with Olink Bioscience

Thermo Fisher Scientific
4 Oct 2007

Product news

Applied Biosystems, an Applera Corporation business, has signed an exclusive license and collaboration agreement with Olink Bioscience to commercialise Olink’s proximity ligation assay (PLA) technology. Under the agreement, Applied Biosystems will co-develop the PLA technology for specific applications in the life science research market that include biomarker validation and characterisation of complex biological processes.

PLA is a highly sensitive assay that uses two oligonucleotide-labelled antibodies with DNA ligation and nucleic acid amplification to detect proteins, their modifications, and their interactions in limited samples. Applied Biosystems believes the PLA technology will provide researchers with a novel method for protein analysis, combining antibodies for protein recognition and DNA amplification for analytical quantitation. The technique will be applicable to areas in which the correlation of gene expression and protein data can bring better understanding of biological processes.

As part of the agreement, Applied Biosystems will develop products for in vitro applications of PLA that will combine the protein detection features of the PLA method with the quantitative precision of TaqMan® reagents on Applied Biosystems’ real-time PCR systems. The PLA technology should allow scientists to conduct protein expression studies using reagents and instruments for genotyping and gene expression analysis. Compared to traditional methods such as Western blot analysis, researchers are expected to be able to use significantly less biological sample to measure relative changes in expressed protein targets, and achieve reproducible results with a more streamlined workflow and higher throughput. These are critical factors in stem cell biology and in characterising targets for drug discovery research.

“Applied Biosystems’ collaboration with Olink Bioscience demonstrates our continued leadership in real-time PCR by combining the ease of TaqMan workflow with the sensitivity of the PLA technology to correlate gene expression and protein quantitation on the same platform,” said Peter Dansky, president of Applied Biosystems’ molecular and cell biology consumables division. “We believe this unique combination will accelerate our customers’ investigation of complex biology and better enable the study of gene expression and regulation at the protein level.”

The PLA method can also be embodied for in situ applications for direct detection in cells or tissues. For these applications, the PLA technology uses two oligo-labelled antibodies and rolling circle amplification (RCA) with visualisation by microscopy to offer a quantitative alternative to immunohistochemical techniques. Unlike immunohistochemistry, the PLA technology enables researchers to better quantify the distribution and localisation of biological markers in different parts of tissues, cell types or sub-cellular structures.

In the agreement, Olink retains rights to certain incarnations of the PLA technology including in situ applications in the life science research market, and all rights in the area of in vitro diagnostics. This includes Olink’s recently released Duolink™ Reagent kit, a universal kit for in situ detection of molecular interactions and fluorescence imaging.

“We believe Applied Biosystems is the ideal strategic partner to bring the PLA technology with its nucleic acid reporter system to the market on the real-time PCR platform,” said Bjorn Ekstrom, president & CEO, Olink Bioscience. “We believe with its unique attributes the PLA technology will become an essential tool for scientists involved in uncovering the finer details of the proteome, systems biology and disease detection.”

Links

Thermo Fisher ScientificCompany website

Tags

AntibodiesAntibodies are used in techniques such as confocal and fluorescence microscopy, flow cytometry, ELISA, ELISPOT, immunohistochemistry, western blotting and immunopreciptation. Select specific antigen reactivity, high specific affinity, low non-specific binding, monoclonal or polyclonal, primary or secondary antibodies and associated conjugates such as an enzyme or dye for visualization.Western BlottingWestern blotting equipment is used to transfer and identify specific proteins within a sample, reveal protein modifications, as well as give a semi-quantitative estimation of their concentration. Western blotting equipment includes all apparatus necessary to transfer proteins from gel to membrane and subsequent processing steps. Protein transfer can be performed by electroblotting with wet, semi-dry and dry transfer systems onto nitrocellulose and PVDF membranes. Blocking, washing and labeling of membranes follows, involving buffers, blocking reagents, blotting / incubation trays, labeling reagents, immunoblotting assays, antibodies and conjugates. Automated equipment for these steps is available to accelerate your lab workflow. Finally, detection and imaging of proteins can be conducted using gel documentation and imaging systems. Find the best western blotting equipment in our peer-reviewed product directory: compare products, check customer reviews and receive pricing direct from manufacturers.OligonucleotidesOligonucleotides are small nucleic acid polymers, usually less than 20 bases in length. Oligonucleotides can be made via enzymatic cleavage or more commonly by chemical synthesis with polymerases. Their use includes FISH, southern blots, microarrays and as primers in PCR. High fidelity synthesis kits and detection systems are available for easy production and detection, respectively.ProteomicsProteomics is the systemic bioinformatics study of proteins and amino acids, including their structure, size, function and identification. Tools used in proteomics include chromatography, blotting and gels, protein arrays, mass spectrometry and ELISA and associated analysis software. Analyzers and proteomic systems should be sensitive, high resolution, fast and may be automated for high-throughput.PCR and Thermal CyclingPolymerase chain reaction (PCR) kits and thermal cyclers are used for the in vitro amplification of DNA permitting subsequent analysis and experimental procedures. Explore a range of high-quality polymerase, primers and nucleotides or simplify your workflow with a PCR mastermix. Find reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) and cDNA synthesis kits for RNA products and libraries. Quantitatively measure the amplification of DNA with real-time PCR (qPCR) and droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) kits and systems, and discover automated PCR setup solutions to increase throughput. Alternative DNA amplification methods also include recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA) kits. Find the best PCR kits and thermal cyclers and purification equipment in our peer-reviewed product directory: compare products, check customer reviews and receive pricing direct from manufacturers.Protein PurificationProtein purification is a vital step in drug discovery, therapeutics, biotech and life science research. The purification process typically involves subcellular or membrane protein extraction with cell lysis kits, separation of proteins from cell debris by filtration or spin columns, and the isolation of proteins of interest from other proteins and impurities with affinity purification (including fusion protein tags and antibody binding proteins A, G and L), immunoprecipitation or chromatographic methods, such as ion exchange, size exclusion and immobilized metal affinity chromatography. All purification methods come in multiple formats for your laboratory needs, including agarose or magnetic beads, resins, columns and filter plates. Find the best protein purification equipment in our peer-reviewed product directory: compare products, check customer reviews and receive pricing direct from manufacturers.BiomarkersBiomarkers are biological markers which can be measured and evaluated to indicate a biological state. The use of biomarkers in research and diagnosis can indicate a normal or disease state or drug response of cells / tissues. Biomarkers include genetic markers, cell surface markers such as antigens, antibodies or receptors and secreted molecules such as cytokines. An assay system is required for identification of biomarkers. :

Related articles

Applied Biosystems announces co-development agreement with Olink Bioscience