New technology could help identify, characterize biologically active molecules produced by living cells

Feb 1 2016

Gene sequencing company Illumina recently made big waves by announcing a new spinoff, Grail, dedicated to building a test for cancer by sequencing tumor DNA fragments found in blood. The company also reported plans for a separate project to identify single cells and tag them for later analysis. Whether or not these particular initiatives succeed, it's clear we've entered a bold new era in the life sciences: one in which technology is being harnessed to provide an unprecedented look "through the microscope" and analyze what we find to give us new and better knowledge.

Stephen Turner, CEO of Protea Biosciences Group, Inc., is spearheading efforts in one such arena known as bioanalytics or "molecular information"—the ability to identify the biologically active molecules that are the continuous products of all living cells, including the proteins, lipids, and metabolites that regulate all our bodily functions. It is emerging as a crucial area where new technology is needed to support the future of medicine and virtually every field of life science research. Protea develops this new technology that identifies, characterizes and quantifies the biologically important molecules being produced by living cells and all life forms.

Protea offers its clients a large and ever-growing array of "molecular information" services. For example, the company's Mass Spec Imaging Services provide access to the most advanced mass spectrometry imaging technologies and workflows available, providing clients with molecular distribution profiling in both two and three dimensions in tissues and biofilms, including living cell populations such as cell cultures, bacteria and fungal colonies—using proprietary technologies like Protea's laser ablation electrospray ionization (LAESI) or more traditional methodologies such as matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI). This technology can answer critical questions for drug developers, such as "Is my drug reaching its molecular target?", "How long does it take to get there and stay active?" or "Are there changes in the molecular profiles of the target cells caused by the drug?" This is all "molecular information" greatly useful to the development of a new drug.

By combining cutting-edge products and instrumentation with the experience and expertise of the Protea scientific team, the company provides mass spec-based imaging data with comprehensive and holistic support. The company provides standardized protocols for specific sample types or developing new methods specific to a client's application. These applications include drug target interaction and localization studies, both metabolomics and proteomics investigations, biomarker discovery, histopathology studies and even in vivo mass spectrometry imaging investigations.

Medical research is in need of "deep data"—data that reflect the true complexity of human disease. Protea's ability to rapidly identify more than 1,000 individual molecules being produced by cells in a single "molecular profile" helps meet this need and realize the vision of understanding all the molecular interactions underway in our bodies, thereby ushering in a new era in human biology and wellness.

Source: Protea Biosciences Group, Inc.