Ge Healthcare UK Limited

Ge Healthcare Limited

Peter Gordon Laughton

Rahman Aziz Ismail

John Gerard Whateley

Nicholas John Gardner

Michael Edward Cooper

Michael Edward Ge Healthcare Uk Limited Cooper

Nicholas John Ge Healthcare Uk Limited Gardner

The present invention relates to compounds useful for measuring aromatase activity. The invention further provides methods for measuring aromatase activity and for screening test agents which modulate aromatase activity. A kit is also provided for use in such screening methods.

Method for measuring aromatase activity

Disclosed are cyanine dyes that are useful for labelling and detecting biological and other materials. The dyes are of formula (I): in which at least one of groups R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R, RR, R, Rand Ris -L-M or -L-P, where L is a linking group, M is a target bonding group and P is a conjugated component, and at least one of groups R, R, R, R, R, R, Rand Rcomprises fluorine. The use of cyanine dyes substituted by fluorine and having additional substitution with three or more sulphonic acid groups for labelling biological target molecules results in a labelled product in which there is reduced dye-dye aggregation and improved photostability, compared with cyanine dyes having no such substitutions. The dyes of the present invention are particularly useful in assays involving fluorescence detection where continual or repeated excitation is a requirement, for example in kinetic studies, or in microarray analyses where microarray slides may need to be reanalysed over a period of days.

Water-soluble fluoro-substituted cyanine dyes as reactive fluorescence labelling reagents

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Cardiff, United Kingdom

Peter Gordon Laughton