Released on: April 21, 2008, 11:23 am

Press Release Author: Raniah/GTCbio

Industry: Biotech

Press Release Summary: Dr. Ozbal will be speaking on label-free HTS of intractable
targets with rapid-fire mass spectrometry.

Press Release Body: MONROVIA, CA - Dr. Can "Jon" Ozbal, Vice President and General
Manager of Rapid Fire Products at BioTrove will be giving a presentation at GTCbio's
3rd Assay Development & Screening Technologies Conference, June 5-6, 2008 in San
Francisco, CA. Dr. Ozbal will be speaking on label-free HTS of intractable targets
with rapid-fire mass spectrometry.
Small molecule high-throughput screening in drug discovery today is dominated by
techniques which are dependent upon artificial labels or reporter systems. While
effective, these approaches can be affected by certain experimental limitations,
such as conformational restrictions imposed by the selected label or compound
fluorescence/quenching. Label-free approaches potentially address many of these
issues by allowing researchers to investigate more native systems without
fluorescence- or luminescence-based readouts. However, due to throughput and expense
constraints, label-free methods have been largely relegated to a supporting role as
the basis of secondary assays. In this talk a novel mass spectrometry-based approach
using the RapidFire high-throughput mass spectrometry system will be described and
examples provided. Mass spectrometry-based approaches facilitate rapid assay
development since designing and validating assays with surrogate substrates is not
necessary. Additionally, mass spectrometry does not suffer from artifacts such as
compound auto-fluorescence or quenching and facilitates the screening of many
enzymatic reactions for which label-dependent formats are unavailable.

GTCbio\'s 3rd Assay Development and Screening Technologies conference will provide
attendees with critical information to utilize in the discovery and development of
assays, while keeping them informed about the latest screening technologies for both
high-throughput screening and high-content screening. Topics being covered include
cell based assays, high throughput screening, high content screening, in vitro
assays and screening, novel assay and screening technologies, and target validation.
For more information visit www.gtcbio.com.


Web Site: http://gtcbio.com/Index.aspx

Contact Details: 434 W. Foothill Blvd.
Monrovia, CA 91016
Tel. 626 256 6405
Fax 626 256 6460
raniah@gtcbio.com