Biophysical Society Thematic Meeting - June 28-July 1, 2015

New Biological Frontiers Illuminated by Molecular Sensors and Actuators

Poster Abstracts

23-POS Board 23 Some Like It Hot: Biomolecule Analytics Using MicroScale Thermophoresis Zhuo Li , Moran Jerabek-Willemsen, Philipp Baaske, Stefan Duhr. NanoTemper Technologies, Munich, Germany. The analysis of biomolecular interactions and their quantification in the early stages of the drug discovery allows faster development of therapeutics and diagnostic techniques. MicroScale Thermophoresis (MST) is a novel and exciting technology to quantify biomolecular interactions and to enhance the discovery process in pharmaceutical industry. The technique is based on thermophoresis, the directed motion of molecules in temperature gradients. This thermophoretic movement is affected by the entropy of the hydration shell around molecules and is highly sensitive to binding and oligomerization reactions, which affect the size, charge, conformation or hydration shell. Furthermore, MST assays are highly adaptable to fit to the diverse requirements of different biomolecules, e.g. membrane proteins to be stabilized in solution. The type of buffer and additives can be chosen freely. Measuring is even possible in complex bioliquids like cell lysate and thus under close to in vivo conditions and without sample purification. Since this technology is not limited by any changes in size upon binding, even very small compounds and fragments can be investigated for binding to their target molecule. The MST technology allows for the determination of binding affinities and other biophysical parameters such as stoichiometry directly in solution without surface immobilization. Exploiting the intrinsic tryptophan fluorescence of proteins this method provides a truly label-free experimental setup. This combination of high sensitivity towards small molecules and close to native conditions in an immobilization-free and label-free experimental design makes MST a powerful method for drug discovery. A combination of different biophysical techniques should be employed to shed light on different aspects of their mode of action, thus improving the quality of therapeutics and speed up the development process.

57

Made with