Cisbio Bioassays, a member of IBA group and global developer of HTRF (Homogeneous Time-Resolved Fluorescence) technology and services used in assay development and drug screening, announced that it has extended its Tag-lite cell surface receptor platform with the introduction of a comprehensive catalogue of ligands and plasmids. The new catalogue marks the next step in the company’s development of a complete array of tools for G-Protein Coupled Receptor (GPCR) investigation and, more specifically, of Tag-lite, its homogeneous and non-radioactive alternative for the study of cell surface receptor dimerization and ligand binding.
The catalogue comprises an initial selection of peptidic and non-peptidic fluorescent ligands and SNAP-GPCR plasmids. These are used to develop a homogeneous and non-radioactive partner for investigating and for screening receptor activity. Receptor families that have been characterized using the Tag-lite platform include chemokine, dopamine, melanocortin, opioid, tachykinin, vasoactive intestinal peptide and vasopressin, among others. Cisbio Bioassays will also provide specific ligand development services upon request. “Tag-lite has been developed for cell receptor ligand binding studies and emerging applications such as receptor dimerization, and this new catalogue represents only the beginning of our expansion of this platform,” said François Degorce, head of marketing at Cisbio Bioassays. “We are consistently putting together new ideas for how this platform can improve drug discovery, and are already on the cusp of launching new ligands, cells and applications with new receptors.”
Launched earlier this year and recipient of the 2009 Frost & Sullivan North America Technology Innovation of the Year Award, Tag-lite is a cell surface receptor platform combining HTRF and SNAP-tag technologies.Streamlined for highly selective ligand binding and receptor dimerization assays, this rapid, non-radioactive platform meets needs to investigate GPCR network signaling, while preserving the functionality of the receptor and the intracellular signaling pathway. GPCRs, with their complex signaling network pathways, are the most important target class studied in the drug discovery industry today and are of particular relevance to therapeutic areas such as obesity and CNS disorders. Cisbio Bioassays’ tools and technologies, including Tag-lite, Cellul’erk for phosphorylated-ERK1/2 investigation, IP-One and cAMP second messenger assays, enable researchers to investigate GPCRs from an increasing number of mechanistic and functional angles, both inside and outside the cell.
