Horizon Discovery and Promega Launch Suite of X-MAN Reporter Kits

Horizon Discovery Ltd. (Horizon), a leading provider of research tools to support the development of personalized medicines, and Promega Corporation, today announced the launch of a suite of X-MAN™ Reporter Kits. These kits enable researchers, for the first time, to apply functional, cell-based assays that directly interrogate critical biological activities, at endogenous expression levels. The resulting data is therefore a closer representation of biological disease states.

The X-MAN Reporter Kits are designed for investigation of: protein expression levels, protein localization within a cell, and protein-protein interaction within a molecular pathway, at natural levels of protein and promoter activity. The kits include genetically-defined reporter cell lines generated using Horizon’s proprietary GENESIS™ gene editing technology with Promega’s innovative and market-leading luminescent and fluorescent reporter technologies.

X-MAN NanoLuc™ Reporter cell lines incorporate Promega’s new NanoLuc Luciferase reporter directly into the native loci of genes of interest, permitting evaluation of genes and proteins at physiologically relevant levels. NanoLuc is the smallest and brightest luciferase reporter available

X-MAN HaloTag® Reporter cell lines facilitate the introduction of Promega’s HaloTag as an N- or C-terminal fusion to genes encoding proteins of interest at their native genetic loci. By using different ligands that bind to HaloTag, these cell lines can then be used to look directly at protein localization at endogenous levels including in live cells or to perform protein interaction studies and to capture the protein of interest for further investigation.

Horizon and Promega have also developed X-MAN Glo™ Reporter Kits, which include X-MAN cell lines pre-transfected with Promega’s Firefly Luciferase for in vivo imaging and VivoGlo™ luciferin, provided as isogenic cell lines for experimental control. These kits enable in vitro experiments to be linked to in vivo imaging through a common parental/mutant cell line pair, leading to improved continuity of findings.

Dr. Paul Morrill, Vice President, Products, Horizon Discovery, said: “Combining Horizon’s X-MAN and GENESIS technologies with Promega’s market-leading reporters has enabled us to create a powerful new suite of tools that allow investigators to study protein expression, interactions, and encoding, at endogenous expression levels. The resulting data sets are more reflective of the biological disease states versus an artifact of the model itself.”

Tom Livelli, Vice President Life Sciences Products and Services, Promega Corporation, commented: “Promega identified Horizon’s GENESIS gene editing technology and X-MAN cell lines as pioneering translational genomics and drug discovery platforms and began working with the Company in 2011. Combined with our world-leading reporter technology, we have created a suite of invaluable tools for the investigation of genetic disease, and the development of new, targeted therapies.”