Benefits of HT-SPR when working with Transmembrane Proteins (TMs)
- TMs in solution avoid complications with immobilizing on the sensor surface
- Multiple formats can be used depending on application
- Detailed kinetics against thousands of drug candidates in a single experiment
- One-on-many fluidics require very low amounts of precious TM sample
While a highly attractive target class for therapies, TMs, including G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs), can be challenging to work with experimentally. Few can be stably studied outside of the cell membrane environment without risk of losing structural integrity and overall activity. Nonetheless, critical unmet need across many diseases necessitates finding reliable and reproducible means to study TMs and identify potential therapies.
Typical means of recapitulating intact TM proteins for in vitro studies include detergent solubilization, synthetic model membranes (e.g., nanodisc), as well as virus-like particles (VLPs). In biosensing applications, consideration of assay objectives such as detailed kinetics, yes/no binding, epitope characterization, or blockade assessment are helpful in selecting the appropriate format. All the above TM formats are adaptable to HT-SPR assays using Carterra’s technology and with the unmatched throughput of HT-SPR, a substantial level of detailed data can be generated using very little sample.
