Diagnostics

Personalized medicine takes into account the unique reaction of each patient to treatment. The choice of this treatment has therefore to be based on more and more personalized diagnosis.

Diagnostics industry permanently searches for biomarkers testifying either of pathology or of effects of therapy.

Diagnostics industry also has to daily monitor the quality of complex biological products it produces or uses.

When it is to discover, quantify and validate a biomarker in cancer or infectious diseases, to  characterize a recombinant protein or a monoclonal antibody or raw biological components, we are at your disposal to discuss our analytical procedures. Feel free to contact us for any information that may help you to know how mass spectrometry can be of use for your projects.

Services and technologies

Biomarkers discovery

For biomarkers, our methodology is based on the comparison between “Test samples” (specimen from ill patients or treated patients) and “Reference samples” (specimen from healthy patients or untreated patients). Differential analysis of LC-MS/MS spectra obtained in both cases allows the detection of discriminating molecules, their identification through database mining and their relative quantification.

The monitoring of peptides produced for each protein by MS fragmentation (Selected Reaction Monitoring) allows the absolute quantification of biomarkers.

We offer a large panel of proteomic analysis. Our services are essentially based on the use of nano LC-MS/MS technology coupled with powerful bioinformatic tools. Using the same technology, we also offer to analyze small chemical molecules produced by metabolism in order to better characterized biological activities in your samples.

Characterization and control of recombinant proteins, antibodies and biological materials

Many biological materials are used to produce reagents, controls or calibrators integrated in diagnosis kits.

Those materials are commonly controlled using same techniques than those reagents, controls or calibrators are produced for. This QC procedure is limited and may not detect materials variations that may have an impact on their efficiency.

Recent advances in High Resolution Mass Spectrometry permit to analyze entire protein and are able to determine their mass with great precision and accuracy. This technique is a key technique to detect slight post translational variations in recombinant proteins, polypeptides or monoclonal antibodies. Indeed, production conditions may influence glycosylation or phosphorylation patterns of proteins, in the same way modifications of disulfide bonds between cysteine residues may occur. Those modifications, which may lead to protein or antibody inactivation, will be detected using mass spectrometry analysis of your purified protein.

This technique will permit to use homogenous biological materials, qualified using an independent technology.

Microbiology

In addition to parasitic, fungal, viral or bacterial identification, it is of interest to know for instance, their ability to produce metabolites of interest or their pathogenicity (virulence, pathogenicity factors, antibiotic resistance).

Nowadays, identification methods (biochemistry, immunology, MALDI-TOF, …) require isolation and cultivation of bacteria. Culture step introduces a physiological bias and is harmful because it delays the use of most suitable procedures (e.g. : antibiotherapy).

Efficient LC-MS/MS solutions presented above are able to take up those challenges by deeply analyzing both proteome and metabolome in order to identify proteins and metabolites of interest.

Custom Services

Our teams are at your service to define best strategies for your project and answer to your interrogations.