Epitome
Biosystems has developed a novel method for producing multiplexed
immunoassays for quantitative measurement of intracellular
proteins, including
phosphorylation (a cellular regulatory
mechanism), at predetermined sites, and (blood-based)
serum biomarkers. Such markers are used to detect
diagnostic and therapeutic decisions.
The
“EpiTag” technology is based on the observation that every
protein can be uniquely
identified based on short, continuous
stretches of amino acid sequences (tags). Epitome
Biosystems uses
informatics tools to identify the EpiTags from gene sequence
information. EpiTags of interest are then chemically synthesized
as peptides and used to
generate specific anti-peptide
antibodies. Most proteins have such tags, allowing one to
correctly identify the proteins.
The
Epitome products allow researchers to simultaneously measure groups
of proteins in
many biologically important areas. As such,
the platform has many applications,
including drug discovery and
pharmacokinetics (the study of how drugs are absorbed, distributed,
metabolized and excreted).
