The launch of HTRF KinEASE marks the second product development collaboration between Upstate and >Cisbio international, following the joint development of an HTRF PI-3-kinase assay, which is now marketed by Upstate.
This collaboration also reinforces the position, which Cisbio's proprietary HTRF technology holds in HTS and the drug discovery industry, specifically in the area of kinase activity, in addition to Cisbio's strength in GPCR screening.
The HTRF KinEASE assay combines KinEASE technology, proprietary antibody and kinase substrates developed by Upstate, with Cisbio's proprietary homogeneous time resolved fluorescence (HTRF) technology, a technology for the detection of molecular interactions of proteins in vitro and widely used by the pharmaceutical industry for the HTS stage of drug development.
The overall solution is monoclonal antibody based, and consists of three different kits, which contain one antibody and one of three defined substrates, S1, S2 or S3.
A fourth kit, HTRF KinEASE Discovery, comprises one antibody and all three peptides, for any kinase assay development and optimization. Cisbio will be the exclusive provider of the HTRF KinEASE platform worldwide.
"HTRF is a widely used formats for HTS within the pharmaceutical industry due to its sensitivity and lack of compound interference," said David Hayes, director of R&D, >Upstate.
Assay development with HTRF KinEASE is straightforward and can be rapidly completed with results in less than two hours.
The high sensitivity of HTRF technology allows the assay to be performed with low consumption of kinase and substrates. Its common assay format is flexible and can be applied to a range of operating conditions.
Over 70 different kinases provided by Upstate have already been validated with this new tool, and adaptation to any new kinase is extremely rapid. There is no limitation in ATP concentration, and it is easily miniaturisable to =10µL.