(MENAFN- ProactiveInvestors - N.America) Pressure BioSciences' (OTCQB:PBIO) pressure cycling technology (PCT) has been used to develop a method to analyze thousands of proteins by mass spectrometry on small, needle biopsy samples for the first time, according to a presentation at the Human Proteome Organization World Congress in Spain held earlier this month.
Dr. Rueudi Aebersold, a professor of molecular systems biology at the University of Zurich, said that he and his team have presented a highly reproducible method to allow -- for the first time -- routine high throughput protein analysis on small needle biopsy samples by mass spectrometry within 12 hours. Needle biopsy tissues are the biospecimens most relevant to the pathology of diseases, particularly cancer.
The method is the product of Pressure BioSciences' PCT-based sample preparation platform and the SWATH mass spectrometry method developed by Dr. Abersold's group in collaboration with AB SCIEX.
The companies said the new method, labelled PCTSWATH, has the potential to enhance drug discovery and design, which in turn could lead to measurable advances in personalized medicine, especially in areas of cancer diagnosis and treatment.
While mass spectrometry is the method of choice for the high throughput measurement of proteins, it has, until now, required relatively large sample amounts, labourious sample processing and lengthy analysis, which has excluded its practical application for small needle biopsy samples.
"Needle biopsy tissue samples contain thousands of proteins, the analysis of which is crucial to personalized medicine, as well as to drug discovery and development," said Dr. Aebersold.
"In the past, because of the small amount of tissue in the needle biopsy sample and shortcomings in available analytical methods, it was nearly impossible to obtain accurate quantities of 1,000s of proteins expressed in such samples."
The doctor said that the combination of its mass spectrometry method SWATH with PCT has resulted in significantly improved proteomic data from needle biopsy samples. The data generated by the method from each sample also represent a permanent digital record that can be retrospectively re-searched to test new hypotheses as they emerge.
Pressure BioSciences said Monday that it plans to focus greater efforts in this area over the coming months, as it believes PCTSWATH has the potential to bolster drug discovery and design.
The company's pressure cycling technology, on which its products are based, is used for genomic, proteomic and small molecule sample preparation, among multiple applications in the estimated $6 billion life sciences sample preparation market. PCT has been proven to increase proficiencies in biological sample preparation, and works by cycling pressure between ambient and ultra-high levels at controlled temperatures to control the interactions of bio-molecules.
In June, the company launched the benchtop Barozyme HT48, which uses disposable and automated microwell strips that are used by labs worldwide, a huge change from its previous instruments which required individual test tubes and handling samples manually. The benefit of the automated strips is that they can be left unattended, which has been seen by analysts as the biggest drawback from switching to PCT-based instruments until now.
"We believe that the PCT-SWATH method developed by Dr. Aebersold and his team with their colleagues at AB SCIEX results in significantly improved analysis of needle biopsy tissue, which if adopted by the thousands of research and clinical laboratories analyzing needle biopsy tissue, could result in greatly increased sales of our PCT product line of instruments and consumables," said chief executive officer of Pressure BioSciences, Richard T. Schumacher, in a release.
Shares of the company jumped over 11 percent to 30 cents on Monday.
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.