This paid-for app note by Fortebio appeared in DDW Volume 21, Issue 4 – Fall 2020.
Research to end the COVID-19 pandemic has focused on both development of vaccines to prevent infection and therapeutic strategies to treat those already infected. Octet® systems are furthering the understanding of the biomolecular relationship between Coronavirus antibodies, epitope, kinetics and affinity, with a simple workflow allowing rapid and low-cost assay development.
Octet BLI platforms are helping accelerate SARS CoV-2 research by providing scientists:
- High-throughput kinetic interaction analysis solutions to select and characterise antigenic targets, vaccine and therapeutic candidates fast
- Fast and flexible platform for antibody epitope charactersation and coverage determination
- Efficient workflows with a wide range of biosensors tailored for vaccine and biotherapeutic development research
- Versatile solutions in upstream and downstream vaccine development and manufacturing such as vaccine potency, stability, and titer measurements
- Intuitive, easy-to-use data analysis software tools
Octet instruments utilise Bio-Layer Interferometry (BLI) technology that measures light interference as a result of binding on a sensing surface (biosensors) to monitor biomolecular interactions. The detection is reported in real-time as binding responses. The instrument operates in a microfluidics-free environment where samples are housed in 96- or 384-well plates. Assay workflow involves a simple Dip and Read™ measure, where the disposable biosensor is dipped into samples presented in microwell plates, and interactions are detected in real-time. This workflow is advantageous over microfluidics-based technologies in that it enables specific capture and analysis of target molecules in complex matrices such as cell culture supernatants, serum, plasma, and other media, circumventing the need to purify antibodies and other recombinant proteins for screening without the risk of sample clogging. These features enable users to easily vary assay and biosensor conditions and reuse precious samples that result in fast and low-cost assay optimisation. Additionally, users can choose from a range of tailored affinity capture and immobilisation chemistries suitable for vaccine and biotherapeutic development research.
Visit www.fortebio.com/covid19research for application notes, infographics, and links to several breakthrough publications related to coronavirus biology, vaccine, and antiviral therapeutic development featuring Octet system data.
