Life Technologies Corporation

Applera Corporation

Melissa Gee

Zhixian Wang

Brooks Edwards

Rouh-Rong Juo

Michelle A J Palmer

Bonnie Tillotson

Xiao-jia Chang

Kathleen Skaare

Alison Sparks

Zhixian H Wang

Edward Brooks

Xia-Jia Chang

Methods for generating a chemiluminescent enzyme substrate in situ, in aqueous or other assay conditions. Also disclosed are methods to use the substrates to generate light, detect and/or quantify enzymes, antigens, and/or nucleic acids. Kits relating to these methods are also disclosed. 

In situ chemiluminescent substrates and assays

Chemiluminescent compositions, methods, assays and kits for oxidative enzymes are described. Further disclosed are dioxetane compounds of the form: where R can independently be any branched alkyl or cycloalkyl group which provides stabilization for the dioxetane or where both R groups together form a cycloalkyl or polycycloalkyl moiety spiro bound to the dioxetane ring, wherein each R group or the spiro bound moiety can be unsubstituted or substituted with one or more electron-withdrawing groups or electron donating groups, or groups providing preferential oxidative isozyme substrate recognition, and wherein Ris an aryl group, or an alkyl group of 1-20 carbon atoms, which can be optionally substituted with 1 or more halogen atoms, and wherein T is an aryl or heteroaryl ring capable of emitting light upon enzyme activated decomposition of the dioxetane I. Kits, methods and assays are also disclosed that comprise the dioxetane compounds.

Chemiluminescent compositions, methods, assays and kits for oxidative enzymes

Methods for detecting G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR) activity; methods for assaying GPCR activity; and methods for screening for GPCR ligands, G-protein-coupled receptor kinase (GRK) activity, and compounds that interact with components of the GPCR regulatory process are described. Included are methods for expanding ICAST technologies for assaying GPCR activity with applications for ligand fishing, and agonist or antagonist screening. These methods include: engineering seronine/threonine phosphorylation sites into known or orphan GPCR open reading frames in order to increase the affinity of arrestin for the activated form of the GPCR or to increase the reside time of arrestin on the activated GPCR; engineering mutant arrestin proteins that bind to activated GPCRs in the absence of G-protein coupled receptor kinases which may be limiting; and engineering mutant super arrestin proteins that have an increased affinity for activated GPCRs with or without phosphorylation. These methods are intended to increase the robustness of the GPCR/ICAST technology in situations in which G-protein coupled receptor kinases are absent or limiting, or in which the GPCR is not efficiently down-regulated or is rapidly resensitized (thus having a labile interaction with arrestin). Included are also more specific methods for using ICAST complementary enzyme fragments to monitor GPCR homo- and hetero-dimerization with applications for drug lead discovery and ligand and function discovery for orphan GPCRs.

Systems for sensitive detection of G-protein coupled receptor and orphan receptor function using reporter enzyme mutant complementation

Methods for detecting G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR) activity; methods of assaying GPCR activity; and methods of screening for GPCR ligands, G-protein-coupled receptor kinase (GRK) activity, and compounds that interact with components of the GPCR regulatory process are described.

Receptor function assay for G-protein coupled receptors and orphan receptors by reporter enzyme mutant complementation

Growing community of inventors

Littleton, MA, United States of America

Melissa Gee