CRB Licenses Fluorescent Peptide Dyes from University of Edinburgh

Cambridge Research Biochemicals (CRB), a UK-based supplier of research reagents, namely peptides and antibodies, signed a license agreement on Aug. 31, 2017 with Edinburgh Innovations, the commercialization arm of the University of Edinburgh, to use new fluorescent dyes developed by a research team at the university to label custom-made and catalogue peptides.

These dyes, which are activatable fluorophores, have been specially developed to enable fluorogenic labelling of peptides for enhanced live-cell imaging. They offer advantages from a synthesis perspective and for the end-user scientist. The former is because the dye is preconjugated to an amino acid, tryptophan, facilitating direct inclusion into the peptide sequence rather than post-purification labelling. This minimizes the number of reaction steps and, therefore, the time taken to prepare the labelled product, according to CRB. The latter is due to high signal-to-noise ratios with increased sensitivity, which enables use of the material in small concentrations, reducing potential adverse effects and facilitating clinical translation.

This agreement is significant to CRB, which has supplied the University of Edinburgh for years as a specialist custom research organization. The company is now seeking a more collaborative approach. The agreement will enable CRB to expand its current dye portfolio, offering a greater selection of products and increased flexibility on its labelling strategy. It will also permit expansion of the Discovery Peptides catalogue, which was officially launched earlier in 2017 and which includes a new range of pre-labelled antimicrobial peptides.

The research team at the university worked in collaboration with academic partners at the University of Barcelona, the Institute for Research in Biomedicine Barcelona, and the University of Manchester to co-invent the technology.

Source: Cambridge Research Biochemicals