NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Protea Biosciences Group today said that it has signed an agreement to collaborate with the University of Southampton to identify biomarkers that may indicate a risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.
Researchers will use Protea's direct molecular imaging technology and capabilities to study the molecular mechanisms of the aged brain in an effort to identify the markers. Protea researchers, led by Matthew Powell and Greg Kilby, will collaborate with a team of Alzheimer's researchers at the University of Southampton led by Roxana Carare.
Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
"We believe that the capabilities of our technology to directly identify and image hundreds of molecules produced by cells from a single analysis has the potential to identify new biomarkers and therapeutic points of intervention for use in the development of new Alzheimer's treatments and patient management tools," Protea CEO Steve Turner said in a statement.
Protea's Laser Ablation Electrospray Ionization molecular imaging technology is used with mass spectrometry to detect the presence of more than a thousand distinct molecules from a single analysis of samples that can include tissues, cells, fluids, and agricultural specimens, among other sample types.