A Holistic Solution to Clinical Proteomics

Courtesy of Bruker Daltonics

Bruker Daltonics of Billerica, Mass., has developed a new mass spectrometry system that the company describes as a "holistic solution" for clinical proteomics and biomarker discovery. The ClinProt™ system, encompassing automated sample preparation, high-performance matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) analysis, and back-end bioinformatics, is the brainchild of Bruker CEO Frank Laukien, who wanted to target the biomarker discovery market, explains Mark Flocco, business development manager for Clinical Proteomics/Biomarker Discovery.

The system includes several components. Proprietary magnetic beads, available with such chemistries as normal phase, anionic, cationic, hydrophobic, and metal ions, purify proteins and peptides from associated contaminants. Bruker's ClinProt liquid-handling robot prepares the samples in 96-well microtiter plates and spots them on Bruker's AnchorChip targets for analysis by either Bruker's AutoFlex™ or UltraFlex™ MALDI-TOF mass spectrometer. Fleshing out the system is Bruker's ClinProTools™, a bioinformatics software package for analysis, clustering, classification, and visualization--what Flocco calls "the crème...