SOUTH EASTON, Mass., June 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Pressure BioSciences, Inc. (“PBI”) today announced that scientists from Pacific Northwest National Laboratories (PNNL), the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH), the Commonwealth of Virginia (CoVA) Laboratory, and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) presented data generated through the use the Company’s patented pressure cycling technology (PCT) at last week’s (June 1-5) American Society for Mass Spectrometry’s 56th Annual Conference in Denver, Colorado. These included three poster presentations and an oral presentation relating to research on biodefense and on improving the preparation of samples for studies of proteins.
According to Dr. Daniel Lopez Ferrer and his colleagues at PNNL, one of the most time-consuming steps in studying proteins is the long incubation period (6-12 hours) required to break (digest) proteins down into their building blocks (peptides), often done with the enzyme trypsin. In their poster presentation, the authors discussed the effect of high pressure (up to 35,000 psi) -- with pressure cycling technology (PCT) and with an on-line high pressure system -- on the tryptic digestion of proteins. They reported that complete digestion of proteins could be achieved in just 60 seconds. The researchers further reported that high pressure digestion “resulted in a noticeable improvement in the number of (peptide) identifications.” They concluded that an on-line high pressure system “looked promising for ultra- high throughput applications, i.e., proteomics on the fly.”
A major bottleneck in studying obesity and obesity-related diseases (such as diabetes, heart disease, neurological disorders, and some cancers) is the difficulty in extracting proteins from lipid-rich adipose (fat) tissue. Dr. Alexander Ivanov and his colleagues at the HSPH presented updated information on the use of PCT and PCT-dependent reagents (ProteoSolve-LRS Kit) for the efficient recovery of proteins from lipid-rich samples. Dr. Ivanov and his colleagues found that the combination of PCT and ProteoSolve-LRS resulted in a much faster, less expensive, and higher quality extraction process, as compared to current methods.
Similar to the trypsin digestion study carried out by scientists at PNNL, researchers at the CoVA Laboratory also used PCT to “dramatically reduce” the time required for trypsin digestion of proteins and to “simplify the procedure to a few steps.” Dr. Shane Wyatt and Dr. Tim Croley concluded that “complete digestion was achieved in less time” with the PCT method than with traditional methods. The authors further concluded that their results pointed to the “applicability of this technique to the rapid analysis of biological agents where identification is paramount.”
Dr. John Callahan of the FDA made an oral presentation to an audience of approximately 500 attendees of the Mass Spectrometry in Biodefense session. Dr. Callahan discussed the need for more precise laboratory tools to help differentiate bacteria at the serovar, strain, and substrain levels. In their research study, Dr. Callahan and his colleagues used PCT to extract proteins from E. coli and Salmonella enteri prior to protein profiling. Dr. Callahan reported that further analysis of protein profiles can be used “to identify biomarkers” and to “identify changes induced in bacteria by external conditions.” According to Dr. Callahan, this methodology “appears to differentiate different strains of E. coli 0157:H7 isolated from food-borne outbreaks.”
About Pressure BioSciences, Inc.
Pressure BioSciences, Inc. (PBI) is a publicly traded company focused on the development of a novel, enabling technology called Pressure Cycling Technology (PCT). PCT uses cycles of hydrostatic pressure between ambient and ultra-high levels (up to 35,000 psi and higher) to control bio-molecular interactions. PBI currently holds 13 US and 6 foreign patents covering multiple applications of PCT in the life sciences field, including such areas as genomic and proteomic sample preparation, pathogen inactivation, the control of enzymes, immunodiagnostics, and protein purification.
Forward Looking Statements
Statements contained in this press release regarding the Company’s intentions, hopes, beliefs, expectations, or predictions of the future are “forward-looking’’ statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements include the reported effectiveness of PCT in identifying peptides; the speed and simplicity of sample preparation using PCT compared with current sample preparation methods for trypsin digestion of proteins; the importance of ProteoSolve-LRS and PCT in the reported identification of new proteins; the speed, cost, and quality advantages of ProteoSolve-LRS and PCT over other methods for extracting proteins from lipid-rich adipose (fat) tissue; the use of PCT to extract proteins from E. coli and Salmonella enteri; and the adoption of PCT over other sample preparation methods. These statements are based upon the Company’s current expectations, forecasts, and assumptions that are subject to risks, uncertainties, and other factors that could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties, and other factors include, but are not limited to: unforeseen technological difficulties that the Company may encounter in the development of the PCT technology and the PCT Sample Preparation System; the possibility that due to the nature of the research being performed, other laboratories and scientists may not find the use of PCT and ProteoSolve-LRS to be as advantageous as reported by Dr. Lopez Ferrer, Dr. Ivanov, Dr. Wyatt, Dr. Croley, Dr. Callahan, and by their colleagues; due to scientific and medical challenges, the possibility that the data generated and conclusions reached by Dr. Lopez Ferrer, Dr. Ivanov, Dr. Wyatt, Dr. Croley, Dr. Callahan, and by their colleagues, or that may be generated by other researchers in the future, may not be beneficial in the development of new tools for protein extraction and analysis, for the study of obesity and obesity-related diseases, or other procedures and diseases; that due to competitive products, services, and technological advances, PCT may not be the preferred method of sample preparation by other scientists and laboratories; and the other risks and uncertainties discussed under the heading “Risk Factors” in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2007, and other reports filed by the Company from time to time with the SEC. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any of the information included in this release, except as otherwise required by law.
CONTACT: Investors: Richard T. Schumacher, President & CEO, or Edward H.
Myles, Senior Vice President of Finance & CFO, both of Pressure
BioSciences, Inc., +1-508-230-1828
Web site: http://www.pressurebiosciences.com/
