N E W O N T H E M A R K E T

Integrated metabolic analysis

Bruker’s unique system for metabolic profil-ing combines the strengths of both nuclearmagnetic resonance and time-of-flight massspectrometry into an integrated data acquisi-tion, data evaluation and statistical modelbuilding solution for drug development. TheMetabolic Profiler is applicable to toxicity andefficacy studies in preclinical and clinicaldevelopment as well as a powerful tool forclinical research in disease screening andpatient stratification. In addition, MetabolicProfiler provides easy-to-use system controlsoftware and data evaluation tools from sta-tistics to structure elucidation.http://www.bruker-biosciences.com/

Microplates for drug discoveryassays

Zero-Trap microwell plates, from NoAbBioDiscoveries, are produced using the com-pany’s novel proprietary surface treatmenttechnology, which reduces nonspecific bind-ing of proteins, peptides, nucleic acids andlipophilic small molecules to the microplateduring assays. The process gives unparalleledlow binding of valuable assay components ordrugs, resulting in better assay performance andimproved precision. In addition, the hydro-philicity of the Zero-Trap surface permitsaccurate and precise dispensing and mixingof small volumes of aqueous solutions. Both96- and 384-well microplates are available.http://www.noabbiodiscoveries.com/

Electrochemical analysis

ESA has announced the launch of itsDiscovArray Multi-Functional Electrochemi-cal (EC) System, which combines all of thecapabilities of both single-cell and array for-mat EC systems in one platform. It enablesdrug researchers to perform all EC applica-tions; integrate liquid chromatography or liquid chromatography–mass spectrometrysystems with isocratic and/or gradient capa-bility; operate and control the system usingstandard data management tools; switchbetween applications with minimal time andeffort; and customize the system to fit specificapplication needs.http://www.esainc.com/

Crystal chip

Fluidigm has introduced the Topaz GrowthChip for generating large, diffraction-qualityprotein crystals. While Topaz screening chips(released in March 2003) have been shown tobe highly effective as a screen to find condi-tions that produce crystal ‘hits,’ the crystalsproduced from these preliminary screens maynot be of a size and a quality for X-ray diffrac-tion. The new Topaz diffraction chips over-come this obstacle through an architecturedesigned to generate large, well-ordered crys-

tals. Compared to traditional methods, thecombination of Topaz screening and diffrac-tion chips has been shown to reduce the timerequired to generate crystals that produce thehigh-quality data required to solve proteinstructures.http://www.fluidigm.com/

Transcription factor assays

Marligen Biosciences’ Multiplexed Transcrip-tion Factor System allows researchers to scaleup dramatically the number of transcriptionfactors they can study at one time. Measuringmore than ten different activated transcrip-tion factors simultaneously, the system allowsscientists to analyze 100 nuclear extracts inless than three hours; the current industrystandard is two weeks. The ability to examinethe response of multiple cellular processessimultaneously not only reduces the amountof time needed to identify promising drugtargets, but also gives scientists a more com-prehensive understanding of the biology ofdisease. Marligen’s technology can also beused in the characterization of recombinantproteins, definition of protein-protein inter-actions and analysis of promoter bindingsequences.http://www.marligen.com/

Testing kinase specificityUpstate’s new KinaseProfiler-FP is a high-throughput kinase specificity testing servicethat complements the company’s Kinase-Profiler screening platform. Both servicesoffer quality outsourcing solutions to helpresearchers identify lead kinase inhibitorcompounds; however, KinaseProfiler-FP isideal for the rapid screening of chemicalarrays or focused libraries against a largepanel of 75 fully characterized serine/threo-nine and tyrosine kinases.http://www.upstate.com/discovery

Drug discovery & development

NATURE BIOTECHNOLOGY VOLUME 22 NUMBER 7 JULY 2004 907

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