Developing and implementing nano-immunoassays to advance quantitative proteomic analysis, biomarker assessment and molecular diagnostics

Authors

• J Chen

Abstract

To address the challenges of conventional proteomic approaches, such as poor sensitivity and assay reproducibility, unreliable data quantification and lack of assay robustness, we have recently developed and implemented Simple Western immunoassays in the CCR Collaborative Protein Technology Resource core. The technology is an automated capillary immunoassay platform providing quantitative profiling of proteins and their post-translational modifications. Through collaborations with NCI investigators, over two hundred assays covering key signaling pathways have been established and successfully applied on precise and accurate measurement for signaling pathway dissections and quantitative proteomic studies. Robust assay performance using only nanograms of protein makes the technology extremely appealing for clinical specimen analysis. The technology has been successfully employed in multiple clinical trials for pharmacodynamic biomarker assessment and targeted therapy evaluation, enabling the measurement of protein level responses to drug treatment with non- or minor- invasively collected specimens. Additionally, the system also employs a high-resolution iso-electric-focusing (IEF) separation mode to detect different post-translationally modified states of a protein that is not accessible through conventional immunoblotting. Recently, we acquired and implemented the Luminex xMAP immunoassay system, which is a multiplex in-solution ELISA assay system providing complementary assays to the Simple Western platform (such as cytokine, metabolite, immune response, serum/plasma biomarker analysis, etc.). The establishment of these technologies provides accessibility to CCR/NCI/NIH investigators: 1) rapid, precise and affordable protein analysis; 2) comprehensive and quantitative cell signaling event dissection; 3) nanoscale proteomics assessment; 4) biomarker development and therapeutic target identification; and 5) clinically applicable assay development and applications.

Scientific Focus Area: Cancer Biology

This page was last updated on Friday, March 26, 2021