RayBiotech to Award Biomarker Discovery Grants

Sept. 24, 2009 - PRLog -- NORCROSS, GA, (USA)  — RayBiotech, Inc., the Protein Array Pioneer Company, announced today the establishment of its Biomarker Discovery Pilot Grant program. RayBiotech will accept applications for pilot grants beginning today through January 31, 2010. Winning applicants will be eligible for restricted grants of RayBiotech products and services worth $10,000 to $20,000 to conduct their proposed protein biomarker research, which would potentially be sufficient to generate preliminary data for additional grant funding.

Protein biomarker research using traditional methods of proteomics, such as 2-D gel electrophoresis and various mass spectrometry methods, works well for characterizing differential expression of highly abundant proteins, including novel proteins, but lack the sensitivity to detect proteins such as cytokines and growth factors that are expressed at low pg/ml concentrations in body fluids. Moreover, these methods are not suitable for high-throughput sample testing and can be very expensive.

By contrast, antibody-based detection of proteins is highly sensitive, able to detect some proteins at less than 1 pg/ml concentrations. Multiplexed antibody arrays can also detect dozens to literally hundreds of proteins simultaneously in a single sample. These attributes make antibody arrays ideal for detecting multiple cytokines and other secreted proteins that are present at concentrations too low for traditional proteomic analysis. Currently, RayBiotech offers antibody arrays that can screen for up to 507 human proteins, 308 mouse proteins or 90 rat proteins in a single sample. In addition, some antibody array platforms can also be adapted to perform high-throughput analysis of 100 or more samples per day.

The application of antibody arrays to biomarker discovery was illustrated in the peer-reviewed scientific journal, Nature Medicine (Ray, et al. November 2007). In the reported study, researchers analyzed 259 stored blood samples, comparing those from individuals with presymptomatic to late-stage Alzheimer's disease with those from individuals without the disease. Using a technique known as signal profiling that was enabled by RayBiotech Cytokine Antibody Arrays, they were able to simultaneously measure the relative abundance of 120 known proteins found in plasma that function as chemical messengers between blood cells, brain cells, and cells of the immune system.

Among the 120 plasma markers measured in the Nature Medicine study, a panel of 18 exhibited an expression pattern that was statistically different in the Alzheimer's samples versus other samples.   This panel of 18 biomarkers was used to predict the presence of the disease in a test sample set with nearly 90 percent accuracy.  

“Antibody array technologies represent a viable alternative to traditional methods of protein biomarker discovery,” says Dr. Ray Huang, Founder and President of RayBiotech, Inc. “By offering these pilot grants, we intend to facilitate more success stories using antibody-based techniques for biomarker discovery and validation.”

For more information on RayBiotech’s Biomarker Discovery Pilot Grant Program, including terms and conditions of the grant program and application forms, please visit our Website at http://www.RayBiotech.com/Grant

CONTACT:
Brett Burkholder
Dir. Marketing & Business Development
RayBiotech, Inc.
Ph: +1-770-729-2992, 1-888-494-8555 (US & Canada)
Email: info@RayBiotech.com
Web: http://www.RayBiotech.com/Grant

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ABOUT RAYBIOTECH
RayBiotech, Inc., introduced the first commercially available cytokine antibody array in 2001. Since then, RayBiotech array products have been featured in hundreds of publications, including some in top-tier journals: Nature, Nature Medicine, Cell, Lancet, PNAS (USA) and many others. Offering more antibody array choices than any of its competitors, RayBiotech continues to lead in the development of protein array technologies. A spin-off from Emory University’s School of Medicine, RayBiotech is privately owned, with headquarters in metropolitan Atlanta (Norcross, GA).