The Next Generation of Assays

How can the results of current validation efforts be best utilized in the timely evaluation of the next generation of assays ... 

For instance, the next generation of RIA-gnost Ferritin was based on the coated tube technology which saved the manual transfer step of the anti-ferritin beads into the tubes. Further development led to semi- and fully automated assays based on enzyme / fluorescence and chemiluminescence immunoassays commercially available from several companies. 

As biotechnology research continues to push the limits of our current instrumentation and assays, there arises a need for new technologies and products to come to the forefront and allow the next generation of experiments to continue. Near-IR MEF using CCA is a tool that should complement current fluorescence technology, allowing for greater sensitivity and reduced detection limits. 

The diversity of kinome assays discussed and readily available to the scientist provides an exciting and growing toolbox to find and define the next generation of kinase inhibitors for important diseases. The remainder of this review will discuss chemistry s response to these and other tools provided by the discovery and publication of the kinome. 

Additional developments in mass analysis technology, including ion traps and time-of-flight (TOP) mass analyzers, have allowed measurements of molecular mass with sufficient resolution to identify compounds by their exact mass. While these technologies have not penetrated the clinical laboratory significantly at the time of this writing, they are likely to play an important role in the next generation of clinical assays. 

For example, use of 10 different isocyanides and amines, along with 40 different aldehydes and carboxylic acids has the potential to generate 160,000 different dipeptide analogs.65 This system was explored by synthesizing arbitrarily chosen sets of 20 compounds that were synthesized in parallel. The biological assay data from these 20 combinations were then used to select the next 20 combinations for synthesis. The synthesis-assay-selection process was repeated 20 times. At the end of this process the average inhibitory concentration of the set of 20 products had been decreased from 1 mM to less than 11xM. 

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