During the past decade, mass spectrometry, notably LC/MS, has become a major approach to identify and quantify proteins in patient samples. It includes analysis before treatments to find the proper biomarkers for cancers diagnostics, and monitoring of the arising of the anti-drug antibodies in human plasma after therapies. Despite the fact that MS has pretty high sensitivity and specificity, research in biotherapeutics requires even more. Immunocapture, and so specific protein enrichment, offer an interesting immunoassay solution. Here, we present simple to use and efficient reagents to improve the immunocapture and thus the output of the MS technology.

Pooled human hepatocytes are a preferred test system in many drug discovery and development applications requiring intact cellular systems for in vitro testing. Intact hepatocytes contain the major hepatic drug-metabolizing enzymes and co-factors required to effectively evaluate the metabolism and potential drug-drug interactions of drug candidates.

Over the last decade, improvements in cryopreservation technologies have made using cryopreserved human hepatocytes more convenient. Pooled cryopreserved hepatocytes reduce the inter-individual differences and polymorphic distribution of liver enzymes. However, it’s crucial to carefully select a pool according to its performance but also the application it is to be used for.

Protein purification from cells or supernatants, endogenous proteins complex analysis, and targeted protein enrichment for even more sensitive mass spectrometry-based biomarker discovery requires a particular immunoassay called immunoprecipitation (IP). Basically, the most robust method to pull-down a specific protein with its partners from cell lysates should be the combination of an antibody conjugated to biotin and magnetic beads with streptavidin. Unfortunately, if your antibody is not yet conjugated to biotin, conjugation is a blind process. That is why, using protein A/G coated sepharose beads is the most popular method.

But what if an antibody biotin conjugation kit could provide simple UV-scan based quantification of the conjugation yield?

This year again, we were pleased to attend the Annual meeting of the AACR (American Association for Cancer Research), which took place in Chicago, USA earlier this month.

Dora Sabino PhD of tebu-bio at the AACR2018 Poster Session

Dora Sabino PhD of tebu-bio at the AACR2018 Poster Session

Dora Sabino PhD of tebu-bio at the AACR2018 Poster Session

Dora Sabino Ph.D. (3D Cell Culture Project Manager, tebu-bio) presented a poster covering a physiologically relevant study on 3D colon cancer models in microfluidic chips:

“Time-lapse analysis of drug response and invasive capacity using patient-derived and CRC microfluidic 3D cancer models under oxygen controlled conditions”

Download your copy of the poster here and learn more about tebu-bio’s laboratory outsourcing solutions.