Articles by Aparna Sreenivasan

Stratagene of La Jolla, Calif. http://www.stratagene.com, recently introduced its new Biotrek reagent which shuttles whole proteins into cells. The protein of interest is mixed with a lipid carrier to form noncovalent complexes, which then attach to negatively charged surfaces of the plasma membrane and enter the cell via fusion or endocytosis. Once inside, the complexes disassemble rapidly, releasing active protein into the cell."You can often see an effect within 10 minutes," compared to tradi

BD Biosciences-Clontech of Palo Alto, Calif., http://www.clontech.com has harnessed the power of a DNAzyme, the DNA equivalent of a ribozyme, in its new BD QZyme™ assay for quantitative PCR. The sensitive system, which can detect fewer than 10 copies of a target, can be used with any real-time thermocycler and works via a simple amplification and cleavage reaction.Appended to the gene-specific 5' PCR primer is the inactive antisense strand of a phosphodiesterase DNAzyme. As double-stranded

Courtesy of Agilent Technologies Researchers working to identify rare proteins in blood are often stymied by highly abundant proteins, such as albumin and immunoglobulin, which obscure less plentiful molecules. A new immunoaffinity column, marketed by Agilent Technologies of Palo Alto, Calif., may solve this problem. Agilent's Multiple Affinity Removal System comprises a combination of antibodies to the six most abundant proteins found in human blood. By merely running a sample over the matr

Courtesy of Pierce Biotechnology Pierce Biotechnology has expanded its repertoire of protein chemistry products with the new ProFound Protein Interaction Mapping Kit, which helps researchers to pinpoint where protein partners come together. The technique takes advantage of a unique cleaving agent and bypasses the need for more complex approaches such as nuclear magnetic resonance or X-ray crystallography, says Patti Domen, a senior research scientist who designed and tested the product at Pie

One of the challenges of proteomics is sample size. Researchers need to fractionate complex protein mixtures into their component parts for subsequent analysis, but the miniscule quantities and volumes involved preclude standard large-scale chromatography. Three years ago Agilent Technologies, headquartered in Palo Alto, Calif., introduced its 1100 series capillary LC system, featuring tiny tubes that could pump nanoliter volumes through columns with high accuracy. Now the company is following

Courtesy of Stratagene Until now, the high cost of quantitative PCR (QPCR) instruments has limited access to the technology mostly to core facilities and industrial settings. Individual labs wanting to purchase such instruments often had to pool money with three or four other investigators. But with the release of the smaller, cheaper, and lighter Mx3000P real-time PCR system, Stratagene hopes to change all that. At $24,995 (US), the Mx3000P is the least expensive of its kind. "This equates