Proteomika. Biomarcadores para el diagnóstico no invasivo de enfermedades complejas.

Proteomika devotes considerable effort to optimization of the format in which tests are provided in order to simplify the work of diagnostic laboratories through the development of assay formats that are best suited to the environment in which they will be used and employing chemistries that allow the simultaneous and specific determination of multiple biomarkers in the same sample.

Proteomika develops multivariate biomarker panels across a number of disease areas based on suspended microsphere arrays such as the xMAP® platform manufactured by Luminex®. This technique allows for the fast, reproducible and simultaneous quantification of multiple proteins using a multiplexed format based on microspheres. The detection chemistry is similar to that used in ELISA, however, the reaction takes place on the surface of microsphere populations in a liquid allowing faster, more accurate assays to be performed using minimal volumes of sample and reagents.

The microspheres are approximately five microns in diameter and up to 100 different populations of microsphere can be discriminated based on their unique florescent tag. Each population can be conjugated with specific capture monoclonal antibodies for the design of "sandwich" immunoassays for each of the antigens it is wished to detect. A typical assay is completed in 2-3 hours and the marker concentration in the sample is determined using a benchtop flow cytometer. The cytometer is equipped with two lasers; one of these determines the population to which each particle belongs while a second laser measures the signal from the fluorophore employed for analyte detection in order to quantify the assay marker. This approach allows the simultaneous and rapid measurement of up to 100 individual biomarkers in complex biological samples such as serum or urine. Most importantly this test format is becoming a standard tool in analytical laboratories therefore allowing new tests to be incorporated into routine laboratory workflows without the need to purchase expensive equipment or retrain laboratory staff.