USHIO subsidiary Protosera has formed a technological alliance with Sanofi to search new receptors
To develop new drugs for diabetes, autoimmune inflammatory diseases, and cancer
Protosera Inc., (Head office: Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture; President: Kenji Tanaka; hereinafter Protosera), a consolidated subsidiary of USHIO INC. (Head office: Tokyo; President: Kenji Hamashima) today announced that it has entered a technological alliance with Sanofi K.K. (Head office: Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo; President: Jacques Nathan; hereinafter Sanofi) to search new receptors for drug discovery.
Nowadays, the structure and function of various receptors and ligands involved in diseases have been clarified, and molecular targeted drugs have been approved as new drugs with excellent safety and efficacy. With the recent alliance, Protosera will use its ligand-receptor search technology that combines its MPL and BLOTCHIP®-MS methods to identify for Sanofi new molecules and their receptors effective for the treatment of diabetes, autoimmune inflammatory diseases, and cancer.
Protosera President Kenji Tanaka said, "Since our establishment in 2004, we have been committed to improve technologies for in vitro diagnostics and new drug development by targeting receptors involved in diseases with a philosophy emphasizing safety and efficacy in new drug creation. As a result, last year in the in vitro diagnostic field we launched the ProtoKey Colorectal Cancer Risk Screening Kit and established a system for launching multiple screening kits annually. In the field of receptor-related pharmaceutical development, the results we have obtained from collaborative research with academic organizations will continue to contribute to the discovery of new drugs. We hope that our technological alliance with Sanofi, which indicates recognition of the innovative biotechnology that exists in Japan, will help us contribute to global healthcare through clarifying the function of receptor-targeting molecules."
*The ligand-receptor search technology combines MPL and BLOTCHIP®-MS methods
Since receptors present in the cell membrane are insoluble in water, conventional purification, identification and analysis flow techniques such as property analysis are ineffective. Protosera discovered receptors [the Membrane Protein Library (MPL)] that can be reconstituted into the phospholipid bilayer of an artificial liposome regardless of their structural properties, while retaining their ligand-binding ability to be converted into a dispersed emulsion solution on the artificial liposome. This technology (patents and expertise) enables the stable supply of large quantities of the receptors existing in any organ or tissue for drug development without the limitations of cell cultivation.
In addition, to simplify the steps leading from electrophoresis to mass spectrometry, Protosera developed the BLOTCHIP®-MS method for quantitative analysis of peptide ligand-binding receptors. Proteins that interfere with peptide mass spectrometry and highly concentrated salts mixed in the extraction process from living tissue are completely removed in the electrophoresis process. High-speed peptidome analysis is achieved by one-step extraction using electrical transfer of the peptide in the gel to BLOTCHIP®, eliminating the complicated steps of former methods (staining peptides in the gel, extraction from the gel, and subsequent concentration/desalinization and deposition on the measurement plate). The combination of MPL and BLOTCHIP®-MS methods establishes a unique ligand-receptor interaction analysis technique for comprehensive searching and identification of unknown ligands and receptors.
■About Protosera Inc. (Head office in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture)
A consolidated subsidiary of Ushio, Inc., Protosera provides ProtoKey disease risk screening kits to detect disease risk with biomarker peptides discovered by its own BLOTCHIP®-MS method for fast, large-quantity and high-precision measurements. The company has found new ligands and new receptors through its ligand/receptor search technology using the MPL method and BLOTCHIP®-MS method, and provides them as new receptor-targeted drugs with excellent efficacy and safety.
www.protosera.co.jp
Nowadays, the structure and function of various receptors and ligands involved in diseases have been clarified, and molecular targeted drugs have been approved as new drugs with excellent safety and efficacy. With the recent alliance, Protosera will use its ligand-receptor search technology that combines its MPL and BLOTCHIP®-MS methods to identify for Sanofi new molecules and their receptors effective for the treatment of diabetes, autoimmune inflammatory diseases, and cancer.
Protosera President Kenji Tanaka said, "Since our establishment in 2004, we have been committed to improve technologies for in vitro diagnostics and new drug development by targeting receptors involved in diseases with a philosophy emphasizing safety and efficacy in new drug creation. As a result, last year in the in vitro diagnostic field we launched the ProtoKey Colorectal Cancer Risk Screening Kit and established a system for launching multiple screening kits annually. In the field of receptor-related pharmaceutical development, the results we have obtained from collaborative research with academic organizations will continue to contribute to the discovery of new drugs. We hope that our technological alliance with Sanofi, which indicates recognition of the innovative biotechnology that exists in Japan, will help us contribute to global healthcare through clarifying the function of receptor-targeting molecules."
*The ligand-receptor search technology combines MPL and BLOTCHIP®-MS methods
Since receptors present in the cell membrane are insoluble in water, conventional purification, identification and analysis flow techniques such as property analysis are ineffective. Protosera discovered receptors [the Membrane Protein Library (MPL)] that can be reconstituted into the phospholipid bilayer of an artificial liposome regardless of their structural properties, while retaining their ligand-binding ability to be converted into a dispersed emulsion solution on the artificial liposome. This technology (patents and expertise) enables the stable supply of large quantities of the receptors existing in any organ or tissue for drug development without the limitations of cell cultivation.
In addition, to simplify the steps leading from electrophoresis to mass spectrometry, Protosera developed the BLOTCHIP®-MS method for quantitative analysis of peptide ligand-binding receptors. Proteins that interfere with peptide mass spectrometry and highly concentrated salts mixed in the extraction process from living tissue are completely removed in the electrophoresis process. High-speed peptidome analysis is achieved by one-step extraction using electrical transfer of the peptide in the gel to BLOTCHIP®, eliminating the complicated steps of former methods (staining peptides in the gel, extraction from the gel, and subsequent concentration/desalinization and deposition on the measurement plate). The combination of MPL and BLOTCHIP®-MS methods establishes a unique ligand-receptor interaction analysis technique for comprehensive searching and identification of unknown ligands and receptors.
■About Protosera Inc. (Head office in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture)
A consolidated subsidiary of Ushio, Inc., Protosera provides ProtoKey disease risk screening kits to detect disease risk with biomarker peptides discovered by its own BLOTCHIP®-MS method for fast, large-quantity and high-precision measurements. The company has found new ligands and new receptors through its ligand/receptor search technology using the MPL method and BLOTCHIP®-MS method, and provides them as new receptor-targeted drugs with excellent efficacy and safety.
www.protosera.co.jp