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Courtesy of Agilent Technologies

With just a few protein comprising 85% to 90% of human serum, low-abundance components can be difficult to identify by mass spectrometry. Palo Alto, Calif.-based Agilent Technologies http://www.agilent.com reduces this proteomic complexity with its new, high-capacity Multiple Affinity Removal System (MARS), which removes up to 99% of the six most-abundant proteins from human plasma or serum.

Agilent has optimized the chemistry used to bind the antibodies to the beads, allowing more protein-binding sites to be exposed, explains spokesperson William Barrett. Up to 100 microliters of serum can be cleared per 4.6 mm x 100 mm column, effectively doubling the capacity (previously, the same column could process 30–40 ml).

Beta-tester Tasso Miliotis, associate principal scientist at AstraZeneca, says the high loading capacity allows more plasma to be injected per run, improving the downstream detection of low-abundance proteins. "Previously we had to make triplicate injections of the...

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