SPR is a label-free technology that is helping scientists to clearly understand the complex biological mechanisms that regulate the function of the brain and nervous system
Biacore International will be presenting the potential of its surface plasmon resonance (SPR) technology to help neurological research at Neuroscience 2003.
In particular, it will detail how SPR is being used to identify and functionally characterise the many molecular interactions involved in neurobiology, from neuronal growth to synapse interactions, giving researchers greater insight into the potential causes of major neurological diseases.
SPR is a label-free technology that is helping scientists to clearly understand the complex biological mechanisms that regulate the function of the brain and nervous system.
The number and variety of posters and presentations featuring SPR technology in this year's Neuroscience meeting, with applications in Alzheimer's disease, prion disease, neuron apoptosis to cite but a few, shows that Biacore's technology has become a fundamental tool for neuroscience researchers, says Biacore.
For example, one of the poster presentations, entitled 'Phage display-derived human antibodies against a bind to human amyloid plaques in vitro and in vivo in a mouse model of Alzheimer's Disease', details research underway in a collaboration between MorphoSys and Hoffmann La Roche.
SPR provides unique functional information that can be vital in characterising interactions in the brain and nervous system.
The technique is free from fluorescent or radioactive labels, and interacting molecules such as neurotrophic factors and those involved in neurotransmission can therefore be studied in a near native state.
This means that molecular binding characteristics are not altered and the data obtained closely reflects in vivo behaviour.
Further background on the application of this technology in neuroscience research is detailed in an information pack that is available on request. Divided into notes on neuropathology, nerve growth factor, neurogangliosides and neurobiology, the pack describes research into areas varying from nerve axon development to the control of neurotransmission.
