"Various methods for their purification or capture (notablyultracentrifugation or lipid binding) have previously been developed, but thesemethods may be limited by the availability of equipment and/or questionsregarding the specificity or thoroughness of captured material," he observes."Our reagents are designed to bind specific proteins known to exist on thesurface of exosomes and microvesicles. Vn96 attaches to circulating exosomes bybinding surface heat shock proteins. With a simple mixture the reagents quicklyand efficiently pellet the exosomes out of a variety of biological samples(urine, serum, saliva, cell-derived media, etc.). One can then either filterout pellet (exosomes) or perform a routine centrifuge step and draw offsupernatant. We believe that Vn96, coupled with advancing genomic and proteomicbiomarker research, will lead to a promising array of diagnostic applicationsfor disease detection."
NEP's goal is "for it to be the first step of a simple bloodtest that could provide early detection of hundreds of specific diseases, eachwith its own protein or nucleic acid profile, all performed as part of aroutine physical in the doctor's office," says Massoni.
"A lot of research remains to be conducted, however, to beable to characterize those biomarkers into a specific profile of disease. Thereare also multiple methods of possible sample collection, the results of whichneed to be aligned with one another in order to make certain of thetrustworthiness of any one sample type."
According to Dr. Rodney Ouellett, president and scientificdirector of ACRI, "You can think of microvesicles as a facsimile of a diseasedcell that contains the same altered genes and proteins that you would find in asample obtained from a surgical biopsy. Microvesicles circulate in blood orurine, so important diagnostic or prognostic information can be collectedsimply and used for either research or clinical analysis."
"This agreement is further evidence of New England Peptide'scommitment to collaborate with its customers to develop and manufactureimportant research tools," Massoni states.
NEP plans to manufacture the research-grade kit in itscurrent Massachusetts facility. Massoni notes that ACRI and NEP are activelyseeking collaborators for the clinical use of Vn96.
The ACRI is a nonprofit organization founded in 1998 andhoused at the
Dr. Georges-L.-Dumont University Hospital Centre in Moncton, NewBrunswick. The Centre focuses on the genetic origins of cancer and is pursuingthree main areas of development: early screening; enhanced diagnosis andtargeted treatment.
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