PerkinElmer, Inc., a global leader focused on the health and safety of people and the environment, announced the launch of a panel of epigenetics-based detection reagents to enable high-throughput screening (HTS) for new drug candidates. The new assay kits can screen for epigenetic factors to assist researching diseases such as neurodegeneration and cancer.
Drug targets related to epigenetics, the study of heritable changes in genome function not related to DNA sequence changes, are of growing interest in drug discovery due to their relevance in human diseases. The new panel of reagents, which employ PerkinElmer’s LANCE Ultra and AlphaLISA detection technologies, accelerate cancer and neurobiology research by facilitating screening for modulators of DNA activity.
“We are excited to introduce our first epigenetics panel designed to detect DNA changes related to the histone, with a focus on assay selectivity, sensitivity and speed,” said Martina Bielefeld-Sévigny, Ph.D., vice president and general manager, Drug Discovery and Research Reagent Solutions, Bio-discovery, PerkinElmer. “Understanding the activity of enzymes that impact histone modification in neurodegenerative disorders and oncology is a high priority for both academia and the pharmaceutical industry, given the possibilities of accelerating research into critical disease states.”
She added, “Leveraging PerkinElmer’s world-class reagent platforms, this new epigenetics-based assay panel is the first series built for high throughput screening (HTS) environments, allowing seamless integration into existing drug discovery workflows. With these new tools, researchers may detect environmental and translation changes related to DNA modification faster and without using radioactive labeling, for more efficient results.”
The new assays are designed to help researchers measure the activity of several epigenetic targets, such as histone methyltransferases (HMTs) and histone acetyltransferases (HATs) that methylate and acetylate histone peptides and proteins. PerkinElmer’s new epigenetics reagents are the only no-wash, non-radiometric antibody-based screening solutions available for medium and high-throughput screening laboratories.
PerkinElmer’s LANCE Ultra and AlphaLISA detection technologies are the first screening assays to allow researchers to distinguish between different methylation states incorporated at specific residues. Being homogenous assays, they do not require any wash steps, particularly important when optimizing protocols for HTS.