NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Sciex and Pressure Biosciences have signed an exclusive comarketing agreement, the companies said today.
Under the deal, PBI will promote its pressure cycling technology (PCT) sample prep systems with Sciex's Swath-based proteomics workflows as well as its TripleTOF, QTRAP, and triple quadrupole mass spec systems.
PBI's PCT systems use controlled cycles of pressure to break down samples, allowing for improved extraction of molecules such as proteins. In the case of proteomic workflows, this can improve the depth and reproducibility of mass spec coverage.
Initial work on combining PCT with Swath mass spec was done by Ruedi Aebersold and Tiannan Guo at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and the University of Zurich. According to the researchers, the method, which they termed PCT-Swath, allows for Swath-based proteome analyses in 12 hours from the start of processing tissue, considerably shorter than conventional workflows, which can take days.
"By addressing the significant challenges inherent in complex sample preparation to reproducibly analyze thousands of proteins in hundreds of samples, PCT-Swath accelerates proteomics research in biologically and clinically relevant contexts," Aebersold said in a statement. "This should increase the chance for biomarker discovery, potentially leading to significant improvements in healthcare, including personalized medicine."
"The net result [of the PCT-Swath approach] is more comprehensive protein quantitation for complex samples, increased productivity, and higher quality results," said Mark Cafazzo, director of academic and clinical research business at Sciex, in the statement.