AbbVie team uses Luminex-based immunoassay for drug discovery applications
According to Dr. Lloyd Lam, a senior scientist at AbbVie, measuring the expression of anti-apoptotic proteins such as BCL-2 is an easier and more cost-effective task when done with a multiplex immunoassay. Lam spoke in a Nature webinar entitled “Multiplex assays of the anti-apoptotic BCL-2 family,” now available for on-demand viewing.
Lam and his team focus on various mechanisms associated with apoptosis, the evasion of which is a key hallmark of cancer cells. In his presentation for this webinar, he described the biological process of apoptosis, the technological applications of multiplexing, and examples of how his team is using this approach for assessing drug compounds.
High Sensitivity and Wide Dynamic Range
Lam worked with scientists at MilliporeSigma to develop a multiplex immunoassay targeting BCL-2 and related proteins to help his team predict response to therapy based on protein expression. Results could also be used for biomarker development, he said. The new assay is based on Luminex xMAP® Technology, which allows for multiplexing up to 500 proteins across as many as 384 samples. According to Lam, the platform offers high sensitivity and wide dynamic range; it also uses little sample volume and is easy to use and cost-effective.
In the webinar, Lam presented several examples of the immunoassay at work — such as the correlation of protein expression of BCL-2 family members with response to the small molecule drug venetoclax. He has also used the assay for high-throughput small molecule screening.
Multiplex Immunoassays in Drug Discovery
For more technical detail on the assay, Lam was joined in the webinar by Reeti Maheshwari, a research scientist at MilliporeSigma. In her brief presentation, she spoke about the applications of multiplex immunoassays for investigating drug mechanisms and other uses in drug discovery. She also provided a look at the BCL-2 assay Lam’s team used, including metrics such as analyte specificity.
About half of the hour-long webinar is dedicated to a lively audience Q&A, covering topics such as the utility of protein expression for understanding drug sensitivity; the challenges of measuring proteins in clinical samples; the amount of sample needed to run an assay; and comparisons of xMAP-based assays to western blots.
We’re always delighted to see how our xMAP Technology is being used out in the field. Congratulations to the AbbVie and MilliporeSigma teams for this impressive work!
