Biacore
Encyclopedia
Biacore is a life science products company, based in Sweden
specializing in measuring protein-protein interaction
and binding affinity. The technology is based on surface plasmon resonance
(SPR), an optical phenomenon that enables detection of unlabeled interactants in real time. The SPR-based biosensors can be used in determination of active concentration as well as characterization of molecular interactions in terms of both affinity and chemical kinetics
.
Biacore was founded in 1984 under the name of Pharmacia Biosensor AB, based on people from Pharmacia
, Linköping Institute of Technology
and the Swedish National Defense Research Institute (FOA, now renamed the Swedish Defence Research Agency
or FOI). In 1996 the company changed its name to Biacore AB Corporation. In June 2006 GE Healthcare
acquired Biacore for $390 million.
Biacore's competition includes Attana AB (a Stockholm based biotechnology firm), Bio-Rad Laboratories' ProteOn XPR36 Protein Interaction Array System (Hercules, California), Sapidyne's KinExA platform (Boise, ID), ForteBio's Octet QK,QK384,QKe,RED,RED384 instruments (Menlo Park, CA), SensiQ
(Oklahoma City, OK) , BioNavis' SPR NAVI 200 and Reichert's dual-channel SPR systems (Depew, NY).
A simple interaction experiment involves immobilizing one molecule of a binding pair on the sensor chip surface ("ligand", in Biacore parlance) and injecting a series of concentrations of its partner ("analyte") across the surface. Changes in the index of refraction at the surface where the binding interaction occurs are detected by the hardware and recorded as RU (resonance units) in the control software. Curves are generated from the RU trace and are evaluated by fitting algorithms which compare the raw data to well-defined binding models. These fits allow determination of a variety of thermodynamic constants, including the apparent affinity of the binding interaction.
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
specializing in measuring protein-protein interaction
Protein-protein interaction
Protein–protein interactions occur when two or more proteins bind together, often to carry out their biological function. Many of the most important molecular processes in the cell such as DNA replication are carried out by large molecular machines that are built from a large number of protein...
and binding affinity. The technology is based on surface plasmon resonance
Surface plasmon resonance
The excitation of surface plasmons by light is denoted as a surface plasmon resonance for planar surfaces or localized surface plasmon resonance for nanometer-sized metallic structures....
(SPR), an optical phenomenon that enables detection of unlabeled interactants in real time. The SPR-based biosensors can be used in determination of active concentration as well as characterization of molecular interactions in terms of both affinity and chemical kinetics
Chemical kinetics
Chemical kinetics, also known as reaction kinetics, is the study of rates of chemical processes. Chemical kinetics includes investigations of how different experimental conditions can influence the speed of a chemical reaction and yield information about the reaction's mechanism and transition...
.
Biacore was founded in 1984 under the name of Pharmacia Biosensor AB, based on people from Pharmacia
Pharmacia
Pharmacia was a pharmaceutical and biotechnological company in Sweden.-History:Pharmacia was founded in 1911 in Stockholm, Sweden by pharmacist Gustav Felix Grönfeldt at the Elgen Pharmacy. The company is named after the Greek word φαρμακεία, transliterated pharmakeia, which means 'sorcery'...
, Linköping Institute of Technology
Linköping Institute of Technology
The Institute of Technology at Linköping University or Linköpings tekniska högskola is the faculty of science and engineering of Linköping University, located in Linköping and Norrköping in Sweden. Since its start in 1969 LiTH has had close ties with the Swedish transport and electronics industry...
and the Swedish National Defense Research Institute (FOA, now renamed the Swedish Defence Research Agency
Swedish Defence Research Agency
The Swedish Defence Research Agency is a Swedish government agency for defence research that reports to the Ministry of Defence. It has its headquarters in Kista, Stockholm and other locations in Grindsjön south of Stockholm, Linköping and Umeå...
or FOI). In 1996 the company changed its name to Biacore AB Corporation. In June 2006 GE Healthcare
GE Healthcare
GE Healthcare is a division of GE Technology Infrastructure, which is itself a division of General Electric . It employs more than 46,000 people worldwide and is headquartered in Little Chalfont, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom. GE Healthcare is the first GE business segment to be headquartered...
acquired Biacore for $390 million.
Biacore's competition includes Attana AB (a Stockholm based biotechnology firm), Bio-Rad Laboratories' ProteOn XPR36 Protein Interaction Array System (Hercules, California), Sapidyne's KinExA platform (Boise, ID), ForteBio's Octet QK,QK384,QKe,RED,RED384 instruments (Menlo Park, CA), SensiQ
SensiQ
SensíQ is a product line of surface plasmon resonance based instruments used to detect biological interactions between proteins, peptides, antibodies, and organic molecules. The most common analysis performed are the determination of binding affinity and kinetic parameters, and to identify binding...
(Oklahoma City, OK) , BioNavis' SPR NAVI 200 and Reichert's dual-channel SPR systems (Depew, NY).
A simple interaction experiment involves immobilizing one molecule of a binding pair on the sensor chip surface ("ligand", in Biacore parlance) and injecting a series of concentrations of its partner ("analyte") across the surface. Changes in the index of refraction at the surface where the binding interaction occurs are detected by the hardware and recorded as RU (resonance units) in the control software. Curves are generated from the RU trace and are evaluated by fitting algorithms which compare the raw data to well-defined binding models. These fits allow determination of a variety of thermodynamic constants, including the apparent affinity of the binding interaction.