Bagnols-sur-Cèze, France, September 22, 2010 – Cisbio Bioassays (www.htrf.com), a member of IBA group and global developer of HTRF® (Homogeneous Time-Resolved Fluorescence) technology and services used in assay development and drug screening, announced today that Promega Corporation’s HaloTag® technology is available for use on its Tag-Lite® platform. Tag-lite®, which combines HTRF® and cell protein labeling technologies, now provides drug discovery researchers with an additional tool for cell surface receptor heterodimerization.
HaloTag® is an orthogonal system for labeling proteins in living cells and in vitro. The HaloTag® protein is a 33 kDa enzyme derivatized from a prokaryotic hydrolase that can be expressed under a tag format at the N- or C-terminus of another protein. As the enzyme is not naturally present in cells, one of its properties enables it to allow for highly specific labeling of expressed fusion proteins by reacting with a chloro alkane substrate. The substrate can be coupled to a fluorophore which will be ultimately transferred onto the HaloTag® moiety, allowing a rapid and targeted covalent conjugation.
Cisbio’s partnership with Promega marks another step in the development of its Tag-lite® platform for cell surface receptor investigation. HaloTag® offers an orthogonal labeling alternative to SNAP- and CLIP-tag®, two protein tag systems already used with Tag-lite®. The combination of SNAP-tag® and HaloTag®, for example, has shown to be suited for investigating receptor heterodimerization in particular.
“We are pleased to partner with an established leader in life sciences reagents such as Promega on the development of new analytical tools that address the emerging concept of receptor heterodimerization,” said François Degorce, director of marketing and communications at Cisbio Bioassays. “For industry and academic researchers who are looking for a simple, rapid and robust technology for cell surface receptor investigation, the combination of the HaloTag® system with Cisbio Bioassays’ technology will supply them with an assay development toolbox that offers greater flexibility and performance.”
About Cisbio Bioassays and IBA group Cisbio Bioassays is a global developer of products and technologies used for in vitro diagnostics and assay development for drug screening procedures. The company pioneered the field of homogenous fluorescence methodologies via its proprietary technology, HTRF®, a highly sensitive, robust technology for the detection of molecular interactions and widely used by the pharmaceutical industry for the high throughput screening stage of drug development. In addition, Cisbio Bioassays produces a selection of biological reagents and methods used by pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, as well as contract research organizations (CROs). Headquartered in Bagnols-sur-Cèze, France, with facilities in Bedford, MA, U.S.A. and a network of distributors worldwide, Cisbio Bioassays is a member of the Belgium-based IBA group. IBA develops and markets leading edge technologies, pharmaceuticals and tailor-made solutions for healthcare with a focus on cancer diagnosis and therapy. Leveraging on its scientific expertise, IBA is also active in the field of industrial sterilization and ionization. Listed on the pan-European stock exchange EURONEXT, IBA is included in the BelMid Index. (IBA: Reuters IBAB.BR and Bloomberg IBAB.BB).
Please visit www.htrf.com and www.iba-worldwide.com for more information about Cisbio Bioassays and IBA.
About Promega and HaloTag® Promega Corporation is a leader in providing innovative solutions and technical support to the life sciences industry. The company’s 2,000 products enable scientists worldwide to advance their knowledge in genomics, proteomics, cellular analysis, molecular diagnostics and human identification. Founded in 1978, the company is headquartered in Madison, WI, USA with branches in 14 countries and over 50 global distributors. For more information about Promega, visit www.promega.com
HaloTag® is a system for labeling proteins in living cells and in vitro. The HaloTag® protein is an enzyme derivatized from a prokaryotic hydrolase that can be expressed as a tag fused to another protein. It reacts with a chloro alkane substrate for rapid covalent conjugation. The substrate can be coupled to a fluorophore, of which some are transmembrane-permeable, alternatively the substrate can be coupled to solid surfaces for protein purification and interaction studies.
HTRF® and Tag-lite® are registered trademarks of Cisbio Bioassays. SNAP-tag® and CLIP-tag® are trademarks of New England Biolabs, Inc. HaloTag® is a trademark of Promega Corporation
Media Contacts: Christina Aplington Ballou PR for Cisbio Bioassays + 33 (0)1 42 22 93 65 christina@balloupr.com
Penny Patterson Corporate Affairs Director Promega Corporation +1 608 277 2642 penny.patterson@promega.com
