The State University of New York, Buffalo, has chosen Sage-N Research's Sorcerer appliance to characterize and identify proteins as well as to handle data generated on high-throughput mass spectrometers.
The clinical proteomics and pharmaceutical analysis laboratory at the university plans to use the San Jose, Calif.-based company's Sequest 3G search engine and Matrix Science’s Mascot, both hosted on the Sorcerer platform.
Sage-N Research said the university selected the platform to take advantage of its algorithms and server capabilities and because it can handle up to a terabyte of information. The company said that Sorcerer will replace a supercomputer that the lab is currently using for proteomics analysis.
The lab generates data via a long-gradient nano-liquid chromatography mass spectrometry method that it developed.
The investigators plan to use the combined solution for a variety or research applications including diagnostics and biomarker discovery for cardiovascular diseases; colon, pancreatic and prostate cancer; cocaine addiction; retina degeneration; chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; and human immunodeficiency virus.
Sorcerer is a "plug-and-play" appliance that’s designed to support multiple software programs. It can be customized with different post-processing tools and offers server-based solutions for storage, back-up, and to process datasets from mass spectrometers.
Mascot, developed by London, UK-based Matrix Science, searches mass spectrometry data against molecular sequence databases to identify the constituent proteins and characterize post-translational modifications.