NEW YORK – EpiCypher said Tuesday that it has partnered with New England Biolabs to codevelop a novel library prep kit optimized for use with its CUT&RUN epigenomic assays. The kit will utilize NEB's NEBNext reagents, offering a streamlined solution for preparation of CUT&RUN sequencing libraries.
EpiCypher's CUT&RUN (Cleavage Under Targets and Release Using Nuclease) is a ChIP-seq alternative, licensed by the company from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. The technology involves the use of fused proteins and micrococcal nuclease (pAG-MNase) to selectively cleave antibody-labeled chromatin in situ, eliminating chromatin fragmentation and immunoprecipitation steps from the standard ChIP workflow.
Clipped fragments are then isolated and purified for downstream next-generation sequencing. The company has demonstrated that the platform can largely eliminate non-specific background, resulting in high-quality mapping data using fewer cell inputs, lower sequencing depth, and lower costs compared to standard ChIP-seq. The workflow is also fully automated for large-scale analyses.
The new codeveloped library kits will provide an alternative to available multi-purpose tools in the "crucial" step of assembling MNase-clipped fragments into sequencing-ready libraries, EpiCypher said.
When the firm assessed leading library prep systems, NEB's reagents delivered the highest quality libraries across multiple targets and DNA inputs, the company added.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.