Cisbio international Launches New HTRF® Cell-Based Assays at SBS

Cisbio international, a global developer of HTRF® technology and services used in assay development and drug screening, announced the launch of three new HTRF® cell-based assays at the 2006 SBS conference in Seattle, Washington.

Related to important targets in the fields of inflammation and metabolic diseases, the assays for cGMP, PGE2, and cortisol constitute the third product line in Cisbio’s HTRF® portfolio and integrate its proprietary d2 acceptor dye, optimizing assay robustness, performance, and stability.

The first assay is designed for the quantification of cGMP (Cyclic Guanosine 3’, 5’-cyclic monophosphate), addressing the needs of screening targets such as guanylyl cyclases or a number of cGMP-regulated phosphodiesterases (PDEs); the second quantifies PGE2 (Prostaglandin E2), an essential inflammation mediator, either in cell supernatants or directly in the presence of whole cells; the third assay enables rapid and accurate cortisol measurement, even in complex samples such as liver microsomes, whole cells, and animal serum.

Cisbio converted existing cGMP, PGE2, and cortisol assays in its portfolio to a d2-based format to enhance overall performance. As indicated by high z’ factors, robustness is increased, the signal to background is enhanced in most cases, and consistent results are produced over several days of assay incubation. The assays take advantage of the extreme flexibility of homogeneous fluorescence: there is no separation, they are non-bead based, highly sensitive, and can be miniaturized down to 1536 format while remaining cost effective. Particularly well-adapted to and optimized for high-throughput screening (HTS), these assays’ procedures are rationalized to single-plate and “mix & measure” modes, can be adapted to cell-based format, and benefit from HTRF® correction for media and compound interference. Furthermore, the conversion of conventional ELISA assays or other heterogeneous formats to these HTRF® assays is straightforward.

Cisbio first introduced the d2 acceptor molecule last year in its IP-One assay and three cAMP assays to optimize its GPCR screening product lines. “Following IP-One and cAMP, d2 performance now benefits assays in the increasingly important fields of inflammation and metabolic diseases,” said François Degorce, head of HTRF® marketing and business development. “These new assays are testimony to our ongoing commitment to assay development, and to listening to customer feedback and developing products which reflect their needs. As a result, Cisbio is one of the limited number of suppliers who can provide assays with high-throughput and cell-based capabilities.”

PGE2, cortisol and cGMP d2-based assays are related to important targets in the fields of inflammation and metabolic diseases, and CNS disorders. For instance, cortisol is an important indicator of glucose metabolism regulation and relates to obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular targets. PGE2 quantification has been an indisputable key to the study of COX-1 and COX-2 pathways and shows a renewed interest in downstream targets such as prostaglandin synthases. Finally, cGMP mediates many different cell targets, such as PDEs, which are involved in a large panel of key processes such as smooth muscle relaxation, kidney function, and inflammatory responses.