Proteometrics Website to Resurface in Ann Arbor, Mich.
Users of ProFound, the web-based software for matching peptide mass spectrometry data with entries found in NCBI’s non-redundant protein database, will soon have an additional portal for accessing the free tool, Jeff Williams, Genomic Solutions’ CEO, told ProteoMonitor. Genomic Solutions, which acquired Proteometrics in July, shut down the Proteometrics website several weeks ago, leaving users vying for access to ProFound through a website at Rockefeller University (http://prowl.rockefeller.edu/cgi-bin/ProFound). But Williams said shutting down the Proteometrics site is only temporary, as the company plans to launch a new site “soon” from its Ann Arbor, Mich., headquarters to support the software. Transferring the website to Ann Arbor, Williams said, will help Genomic Solutions more closely integrate the ProFound software with the company’s software supporting other proteomics applications, including its Investigator 2D gel analysis platform. Genomic Solutions also intends to build an interface to the software for use with MALDI-TOF/TOF mass spectrometers, Williams added.
Institute for Systems Biology to Oversee Proteomics of $12.7M Prostate Cancer Study
As part of a $12.7 million program announced late last month to investigate the genetic underpinnings of prostate cancer, the Institute for Systems Biology will investigate gene and protein expression in a series of clinical and cell line samples. The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, based in Seattle, will lead the project and distribute the $12.7 million National Cancer Institute grant to ISB, the University of Washington, the University of British Columbia, and the Prostate Centre at Vancouver General Hospital.
The proteomics laboratory at ISB, directed by David Goodlett, will lead the proteomics aspect of the investigation. In addition to patient samples at various stages of the disease, the researchers are also studying LnCAP, DU-45, and other clonal cultured cells, ISB said. The ISB laboratory will employ cell dissociation techniques and high-speed cell sorters developed at ISB by Ger van den Engh in collaboration with Cytopia, to separate normal and tumor cells based on multiple cell surface markers.
The mass spectrometry resources at the ISB proteomics lab include quadrupole time-of-flight, electrospray ion trap, and MALDI-TOF/TOF mass spectrometers. ISB researchers will also apply the ICAT reagent technology to help compare the levels of protein expression between different samples.
Bruker Daltonics Reports 22 Percent Order Growth For Q3 2002
Bruker Daltonics said last week that its new orders for life science systems grew 22 percent in the third quarter of 2002, compared to last year’s third quarter. Frank Laukien, Bruker Daltonics’ CEO, said the company had received orders for more than 10 UltraFlex MALDI-TOF/TOF mass spectrometers from a European pharmaceutical company. In February, Roche said it planned to trade in at least ten of its Bruker-built MALDI-TOF mass spectrometers for new UltraFlex TOF/TOFs. Laukien added in a statement that a research hospital in Asia had ordered a complete Proteineer system, which includes a spot-picking robot, a digest and prep robot, a MALDI-TOF/TOF, an ion trap mass spectrometer, and the ProteinScape proteomics software. The package costs over $1 million, the company said. Bruker has also received “initial” orders for the company’s 9.4 Tesla and 12 Tesla Fourier transform mass spectrometers.
Agilent Licenses Protein Separation Technology From LSBC
Agilent Technologies said last week that it had obtained a license from Large Scale Biology Corporation to exclusively develop new technology for separating low-abundance proteins from serum samples. Agilent did not provide any details on the nature of the technology covered under the worldwide licensing agreement, except to say that it would combine the technology with its LC/MS systems for separating and identifying proteins. Agilent added that it would also develop products for researchers using other protein analysis platforms.
ABI Liable for $13.3M in Damages Inherited from Perkin-Elmer
Applied Biosystems, as the successor to Perkin-Elmer Corporation, was held liable for $13.3 million from a jury verdict last week in a lawsuit Waters’ subsidiary TA Instruments filed against PE in 1995. PE was found liable for infringing on TA Instruments’ MDSC patents related to calorimeters used to test the effect of temperature on plastics and other materials, according to TA Instruments. Applera, ABI’s parent company, said it would appeal the judgment.