MS-Based Immunoassay Detects Levels of Bioactive BNP

A novel, quantitative mass spectrometry immunoassay has been developed for the detection of bioactive b-type natriuretic peptide (BNP).

A team of scientists discovered very low concentrations of bioactive BNP in plasma obtained from patients with heart failure, and demonstrated direct structural evidence for several proteolytically degraded forms of BNP in these patients.

Intrinsic Bioprobes Inc. (Tempe, AZ, USA) together with colleagues from Scios Inc. (Fremont, CA, USA), Christ Hospital (Cincinnati, OH, USA), and Medivation Inc. (San Francisco, CA, USA) reported their findings in an article that appeared in the October 14, 2008 journal Circulation: Heart Failure.

Commercially available assays for immunoreactive BNP do not reflect the bioactivity of the natriuretic peptide system, since they measure both unprocessed, inactive proBNP and mature BNP 1-32," said Eric Niederkofler, Ph.D., the principal investigator from Intrinsic Bioprobes. BNP is synthesized as a 108 amino acid propeptide and proteolytically processed to release an inactive 76 amino acid N-terminal fragment and bioactive mature BNP 1-32 into the bloodstream.

"This is the first assay capable of detecting and quantifying BNP 1-32 alone. Furthermore, the assay allowed us to study the molecular complexity of BNP degradation, revealing rapid in vitro degradation of BNP 1-32, and necessitating certain preservation protocol during blood collection and subsequent sample handling,” added Dr. Niederkofler.

Intrinsic Bioprobes Inc. is a privately held biotechnology company focused on developing mass spectrometry-based assays and platforms for rapid and sensitive protein biomarker analysis. The company's proprietary technologies consist of Mass Spectrometric Immunoassay (MSIA), a high-performance immunoassay combining micro-scale immunoaffinity capture and mass spectrometry for high throughput analysis of proteins from complex biological matrices, and bioreactive mass spectrometer probes (BRP), devices for rapid, sensitive and accurate protein characterization. These root technologies are incorporated into the MASSAY System, a high-throughput mass spectrometry platform for rapid proteome analysis.

Related Links:
Intrinsic Bioprobes
Scios Inc.
Christ Hospital
Medivation Inc.