A New Fluorescence Assay Platform for Detection of DNA-binding Proteins and Related Ligands - Isis Project No 3196

A new fluorescence-based method and assay platform for the detection and quantitation of DNA-binding proteins and their ligands. This could find application in sensitive diagnostics, drug development or high-throughput screening.

Marketing Opportunity

DNA-binding proteins constitute a large family of proteins with diverse and important biological functions. These include transcription factors, DNA-repair proteins, and DNA-processing proteins, e.g. DNA and RNA polymerases.

Transcription factors play an important role in gene expression, alterations in their levels or activity (e.g. due to mutations) can lead to a variety of diseases, including cancer (alteration in p53 activity is involved in 50% of all human cancers) and neurodegenerative disorders. Therefore, the ability to detect their profiles is extremely useful for biomedical purposes, such as sensitive diagnostics or drug development.

Several methods exist for detection of DNA-binding proteins, but they all suffer from one or more of the following problems:

• They are time consuming
• They require amplification
• They are expensive
• They cannot detect low abundance DNA-binding proteins
• They are not amenable to high throughput

The need therefore exists for new methods that do not suffer from these problems.

The Oxford Invention

The Oxford Invention uses single molecule fluorescence spectroscopy for detection of DNA binding proteins and related ligands. Unlike existing methods the invention:

• Can detect DNA-binding proteins at low concentrations (<1nM) and volumes (<1µL)
• Requires no amplification, washes or antibodies
• Can detect low-abundance DNA-binding proteins (down to 1-10 copies per cell)
• Can be rapid (results within 30 mins)
• Can detect and quantify one or more DNA-binding proteins in the same solution
• Can allow extensive multiplexing for detection of several proteins on solid supports
• Can detect small-molecule ligands such as sugars and cyclic AMP
• Can potentially enable detection of transcription factor p53 and oestrogen receptors
• Can potentially allow real time monitoring of DNA-binding proteins in living cells

Patent Status

The Oxford invention is the subject of a published International patent application number WO2008/099163. Isis would like to talk to companies interested in developing the commercial opportunity. Please contact the Isis Project Manager if you wish to discuss this further.

Request Further Information: Project Number 3196 - A New Fluorescence Assay Platform for Detection of DNA-binding Proteins and Related Ligands