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At mAbGen, we are developing new methods of high-throughput screening to accelerate both drug discovery and basic metabolic research. The key to our platform technology is the Ab-Sniffer™, a novel device capable of detecting fluorescence changes linked to the metabolic events of target cells. The current design can simultaneously screen a 96-well microtiter plate for activity against a theoretical maximum of 100 targets. By screening against whole live cells instead of specific antigens, we are able to immediately eliminate compounds which do not show the desired pharmacological response, thereby accelerating the early stage drug discovery process.
The technology used in the Ab-Sniffer™ will exponentially increase the rate of discovery of candidate antibodies and small molecules to fill pharmaceutical companies’ drug development pipelines faster and more inexpensively than before. In addition, the Ab-Sniffer™ is capable of identifying multiple targets with binding potential, allowing for the rapid development of new diagnostic tests.
In addition, we are exploring the use of the AbSniffer with reporter constructs as a method for probing the metabolic responses of live cells to various environmental stimuli. We believe that the ability to detect fluorescence activity in multiple lines of live cells simultaneously will be a useful research tool.
The need for new pharmacological agents is unending. Yet the drug discovery process has changed substantially over the past decade and continues to evolve in response to new technologies. There is presently a high demand to reduce  discovery time by improving specific lab disciplines and developing new technology platforms in the area of cell-based assay screening. Here we present the developmental concept and early stage testing of the Ab-Sniffer™, a novel fiber optic fluorescence device for high throughput cytotoxicity screening using an immobilized whole cell approach. The fused silica fibers are chemically functionalized with biotin to provide interaction with fluorescently labeled, streptavidin functionalized alginate-chitosan microspheres. The microspheres are also functionalized with Concanavalin A to facilitate binding to living cells. By using lymphoma cells and rituximab in an adaptation of a well-known cytotoxicity protocol we demonstrate the utility of the Ab-Sniffer for functional screening of potential drug compounds rather than indirect, non-functional screening via binding assay. The platform can be extended to any assay capable of being tied to a fluorescence response including multiple target cells in each well of a multi-well plate for high-throughput screening.
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