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So far Mingjie Xie has created 131 blog entries.

July 2024

Antibody Discovery Processes

2024-12-03T13:51:44-05:00July 3rd, 2024|Articles|

Written by: Vanessa Yoon Calvelo, PhD Published: June 6, 2023 Updated: July 7, 2024 Contents Introduction Early Discovery and Development of Therapeutic Antibodies Target Identification and Validation Antibody Discovery and Expression Lead Characterization and Selection Lead Engineering and Optimization Candidate Selection and Downstream Characterization Introduction [...]

February 2024

Maximizing Liquid Biopsy Sensitivity through the Power of DNA-Binding Antibodies

2024-04-24T10:33:09-04:00February 1st, 2024|Webinars|

In this webinar, you will learn: Non-Invasive Liquid Biopsies: Cell-free DNA as a key analyte for non-invasive liquid biopsies for cancer diagnosis and monitoring. Enhanced Cell-Free DNA Recovery: Strategies to improve cell-free DNA recovery, including the use of DNA priming agents like DNA-binding monoclonal antibodies. Fc-Domain Engineering: The process of engineering [...]

November 2023

Alpaca Antibody Discovery and Characterization with Polyclonal Sequencing, SPR and HDX-MS

2024-12-03T14:07:09-05:00November 13th, 2023|Case Studies|

Authors:  Teresa Nunez, Amber Couzens, Jin Duan, Chelsea Reitzel, Rosalin Dubois,  Lin Wu, Qixin Liu, Thierry Le Bihan, Marko Jović, Dominic Narang, Bin Ma  Published: Nov 13, 2023 Abstract In this study, the challenge of accessing functional antibodies from the circulating antibody repertoire was addressed using Rapid Novor's antibody [...]

August 2023

Latest Advancements in Antibody Engineering – Bispecifics, Diagnostic Controls, and More

2024-04-24T10:35:04-04:00August 29th, 2023|Webinars|

In this webinar, you will learn: Antibody technologies for the design of unique antibody formats Advancements in engineering efforts for the development of functionally tailored antibodies, recombinant isotype antibody panels, and multivalent fragment antibody constructs Characterization of different bispecific antibody formats Next generation protein sequencing to aid in bispecific antibody design [...]

July 2023

Antibody Discovery Dead Ends and New Approaches

2024-12-03T12:39:28-05:00July 20th, 2023|Webinars|

In this webinar, you will learn: About the challenges commonly encountered in antibody discovery campaigns, including non-functional antibodies, limited diversity, developability issues, and immunogenicity. How to de-risk antibody discovery campaigns, while balancing speed and spend Discover how a proteomics and mass spectrometry-based approach to antibody discovery, utilizing REpAb polyclonal sequencing, presents [...]

June 2023

CAR-iNKT Cells Targeting Clonal TCRVβ Chains as a Precise Strategy to Treat T Cell Lymphoma

2024-06-10T12:48:41-04:00June 16th, 2023|Case Studies|

With 22 functional T cell receptor (TCR)Vβ subunit families making up the normal T cell repertoire, signals from these cell surface receptors often determine the fate of normal cells. However, mutations in TCR signaling proteins are frequently associated with peripheral T cell lymphomas (TCLs), including adult T cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATL), which indicates a driving role for TCRs in TCL oncogenesis. As TCL and ATL are clonal in nature, tumour cells typically express a single TCRVβ subunit with no bias in the usage of TCRVβ subunit families. Consequently, targeting the specific TCRVβ subunit presents a promising therapeutic approach that is highly selective and tumour-specific.

Breakthrough: Sequencing Functional Antibody Proteins Directly from Human Blood

2024-03-15T12:04:14-04:00June 5th, 2023|News|

Rapid Novor Inc., the world’s leader in mass spectrometry (MS)-based antibody protein sequencing, announced today that its REpAb® antibody discovery platform was used to successfully sequence a complex mixture of functional antibodies directly from the serum of a human patient after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine. “This demonstrates a significant breakthrough in antibody discovery technology [...]

May 2023

Rational Antibody Design and Engineering with Next Generation Protein Sequencing

2024-04-29T13:20:11-04:00May 9th, 2023|Webinars|

In this webinar, you will learn: A strategy for generating recombinant mAbs and antibody derivatives directed towards antigens involved in mitotic cell division Methods for antibody engineering and customization, species switching, and construction of antibody fragments How Next Generation Protein Sequencing (NGPS) works Applications of NGPS to aid engineering and recombinant production of [...]

Functional Characterization of Therapeutic Antibodies

2024-12-03T13:57:00-05:00May 3rd, 2023|Articles|

Written by: Vanessa Yoon Calvelo, PhD Published: April 24, 2023 Contents Introduction Functions of Therapeutic Antibodies Functional Assays for Therapeutic Antibodies Functional Characterization in the Therapeutic Antibody Discovery Process Introduction Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) and related biological products often present as ideal therapeutics largely due to: Their [...]

April 2023

Immunochemical Characterization of Therapeutic Antibodies

2024-05-06T15:49:12-04:00April 17th, 2023|Articles|

Written by: Vanessa Yoon Calvelo, PhD Published: April 14, 2023 Contents Introduction Immunochemical Properties of Therapeutic Antibodies Rapid Immunochemical Characterization of Antibodies Introduction Therapeutic antibodies, predominantly monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), are a rapidly expanding class of drugs with over 100 mAb-based biologics now approved for the treatment [...]

The Shortcut to Reliable Diagnostic, Control, and Assay Antibodies

2024-04-25T10:09:41-04:00April 5th, 2023|Webinars|

In this webinar, you will learn: IVD and immunoassays, supply chain risk management considerations How monoclonal and polyclonal antibody sequencing works, requirements Effective production, validation, and scale-up of recombinant antibody reagents Characterization of mAbs for assay design Abstract Polyclonal antibodies (pAbs) are well known for their robustness and [...]

Navigating Intellectual Property Protection for Antibodies

2024-05-06T15:50:21-04:00April 1st, 2023|Webinars|

In This Webinar, You Will Learn: Why IP is important in the development of antibody-based assets Patent application process and requirements How to strengthen patent applications Applications of De Novo Protein Sequencing, SPR assays, and HDX-MS for antibody-related patent applications Abstract In the development of novel and innovative antibody-based assets, [...]

March 2023

Rapid Novor’s Blood Test for Multiple Myeloma Monitoring is CLIA Certified for Clinical Use in the US

2024-03-15T12:07:04-04:00March 16th, 2023|News|

Rapid Novor’s Blood Test for Multiple Myeloma Monitoring is CLIA Certified for Clinical Use in the US Rapid Novor Inc., the world’s leader in mass spectrometry (MS)-based antibody protein sequencing, announced today that its diagnostic laboratory obtained the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) certification for their EasyM™ assay as a Laboratory Developed Test (LDT). [...]

Bruker Launches de novo Sequencing for Immunopeptidomics, Library-Free dia-PASEF, Mass Dynamics Knowledge Visualization

2023-11-03T19:41:45-04:00March 7th, 2023|News|

Bruker Launches de novo Sequencing for Immunopeptidomics, Library-Free dia-PASEF, Mass Dynamics Knowledge Visualization At the 19th US HUPO, Bruker Corporation (Nasdaq: BRKR) announced important bioinformatics launches for 4D-Proteomics on the timsTOF platform: A novel de novo sequencing algorithm was developed in collaboration with Rapid Novor Inc., using over 1.7 million PASEF data-points to improve accuracy [...]

February 2023

Nanobody Lead Optimization with Epitope Mapping and Binning

2024-12-03T12:46:01-05:00February 14th, 2023|Webinars|

In this webinar, you will learn: How Rapid Novor’s de novo polyclonal sequencing platform REpAb® can accelerate any nanobody development pipeline How SPR and HDX-MS integrate into an antibody discovery and development workflow How to choose optimal lead candidates with SPR and HDX-MS How epitopes can be characterized using SPR and HDX-MS [...]

Towards Antigen-Specific Tregs for Type 1 Diabetes: Construction and Functional Assessment of Pancreatic Endocrine Marker, HPi2-Based Chimeric Antigen Receptor

2024-04-24T10:42:26-04:00February 3rd, 2023|Case Studies|

Antibodies with established, specific targets can be sequenced and utilized to engineer the hinge region and antigen-binding domains with antibody fragments and derivatives. With the sequence information in hand, further steps to optimizing a viable therapeutic approach can be more accessible.

December 2022

Antibody Discovery Platforms

2024-12-03T13:49:44-05:00December 23rd, 2022|Articles|

The great debate on the use of in vivo versus in vitro sources and strategies for antibody discovery and generation continues to thrive among antibody research groups. On one side of the debate is the argument for non-animal-derived antibodies due to the technical advancements of current in vitro technologies, and the moral obligation to reduce animal usage. On the other side of the debate is the counterargument for animal-derived antibodies due to their better performance in affinity, specificity, and reduced immunogenicity risk.

October 2022

Resistance to Autosomal Dominant Alzheimer’s Disease in an APOE3 Christchurch Homozygote

2024-04-24T10:43:19-04:00October 21st, 2022|Case Studies|

De novo protein sequencing provided the research team with insurance by securing the complete amino acid sequence of a therapeutic mAb candidate for ADAD. This mass spectrometry-based protein sequencing technique can be used to obtain the sequence information of any antibody or protein for biomarker discovery, characterization, and validation. Access to this structural information only broadens our understanding of disease pathogenesis and fosters the development of innovative therapeutic or preventative treatments.

Characterizing Biomolecular Interactions with Surface Plasmon Resonance

2024-12-02T16:46:34-05:00October 21st, 2022|Articles|

Biological processes are driven by molecules that interact through specific molecular contacts, often to form a stable complex. These interactions are typically defined by the principles of thermodynamics as well as biomolecular structure and recognition. At the simplest level is the interaction between a target molecule with a specific binding site and a probing molecule that binds to that site, resulting in the bound complex.

September 2022

Characterizing Fragile Protein Complexes

2024-04-24T10:43:28-04:00September 14th, 2022|Webinars|

Webinar Highlights You will learn: Introduction to the structure and function of the tuberous sclerosis protein complex (pTSC) A novel strategy for isolating and purifying protein complexes from native sources using recombinantly produced Fabs How Next Generation Protein Sequencing (NGPS) works Applications of NGPS to aid design and engineering of recombinant antibody [...]

August 2022

Surface Plasmon Resonance Spectroscopy

2024-05-06T15:55:26-04:00August 16th, 2022|Articles|

Written by: Vanessa Yoon Calvelo, PhD Updated: January 19, 2023 (Published: August 11, 2022) Contents What is Surface Plasmon Resonance Spectroscopy? What is SPR Used For? How Does SPR Work? SPR Experimental Workflow SPR Sensorgram SPR Advantages SPR Applications SPR Antibody-Antigen Interaction Analysis at Rapid Novor What is [...]

Moving Towards Biosimilar Drugs

2024-06-13T16:50:51-04:00August 4th, 2022|Articles|

Written by: Vanessa Yoon Calvelo, PhD Published: August 3, 2022 Contents What are Biosimilar Drugs? Why are Biosimilars Being Developed? Biosimilars are not the Equivalent of Generics Biosimilar Development Biosimilar Monoclonal Antibodies De Novo Protein Sequencing Solutions in Biosimilar Development What are Biosimilar Drugs? Biosimilar drugs, [...]

July 2022

Protein Characterization by HDX-MS

2024-12-03T10:40:26-05:00July 26th, 2022|Articles|

Characterization of proteins and protein complexes is a major keystone of structural biology. As our understanding of cellular processes continues to evolve from simple pathways to complicated networks, our need for advanced analytical methods is quite apparent. Mass spectrometry (MS)-based structural approaches can be used to study protein conformational changes and dynamics, protein motion/flexibility, ligand-protein binding, and protein-protein interfaces.

Alpaca Serum Antibodies Decoded with Rapid Novor’s De Novo Protein Sequencing Technology

2023-11-03T19:42:06-04:00July 19th, 2022|News|

Alpaca Serum Antibodies Decoded with Rapid Novor’s De Novo Protein Sequencing Technology Rapid Novor Inc., the world's leader in antibody protein sequencing using mass spectrometry, announced today that its REpAb® antibody discovery platform was used to successfully sequence 10 unique nanobodies directly from an alpaca’s serum polyclonal antibody proteins. Furthermore, the 10 nanobodies were recombinantly [...]

Adeno-Associated Virus Vectors for Gene Therapy Delivery

2024-12-03T10:41:17-05:00July 14th, 2022|Articles|

Written by: Vanessa Yoon Calvelo, PhD Published: July 11, 2022 Contents What is Gene Therapy? What are Adeno-Associated Viruses? Engineering of AAVs for Gene Therapy Engineering AAVs for Improved Transduction Engineering AAVs for Improved Immunogenicity De Novo Protein Sequencing Applications in AAV Characterization and Development What is Gene [...]

Next Generation Vaccine Development with Proteomics

2024-04-24T10:43:40-04:00July 5th, 2022|Webinars|

As nearly all individuals have pre-existing immunity to influenza viruses, influenza-specific memory B cells will likely be recalled upon COBRA HA vaccination. By comparing the antibody response towards specific wild-type influenza strains and COBRA antigens, we can begin to understand the potential for COBRA-based vaccines to be used in the clinic.

June 2022

Chimeric Antigen Receptors and T cells – CAR-T

2024-12-03T10:43:11-05:00June 21st, 2022|Articles|

Written by: Vanessa Yoon Calvelo, PhD Published: June 13, 2022 Contents What is CAR-T Cell Therapy? CAR Structure and Function CAR-T Cell Development Engineering Strategies for CAR-T Cells De Novo Protein Sequencing Applications in CAR-T Cell Development What is CAR-T Cell Therapy? The infusion of T cells [...]

Characterization and Modulation of Anti-αβTCR Antibodies and Their Respective Binding Sites at the βTCR Chain to Enrich Engineered T Cells

2024-04-24T10:43:50-04:00June 17th, 2022|Case Studies|

αβTCR-engineered T cells have been applied in clinical trials, specifically directed against cancer/testis antigens. Though the clinical outcomes are promising, only a small proportion of patients benefit from these novel treatments. Lower response rates are partially attributed to a heterogeneous mixture of non-engineered and poorly engineered T cells that remain in the administered therapeutic product. For successful translation of these novel treatments into the clinic, engineering efforts should be reinforced with effective methods for engineered T cell purification and engineered T cell elimination post infusion into patients.

Why do Post-Translational Modifications Matter?

2024-06-13T16:49:28-04:00June 14th, 2022|Articles|

Written by: Vanessa Yoon Calvelo, PhD Updated: January 19, 2023 (Published: June 2, 2022) Contents What are post-translational modifications (PTMs)? Impact of PTMs Types of PTMs PTMs increase microheterogeneity of antibodies PTM Analysis by LC-MS The Importance of Post-Translational Modifications (PTMs) Post-translational modifications (PTMs) are processing [...]

Protein Structure and How to Study It

2023-05-15T11:21:16-04:00June 10th, 2022|Articles|

Written by: Yuning Wang, PhD Updated: January 26, 2023 (Published: June 3, 2022) Contents Introduction The Four Levels of Protein Structure How are Protein Structures Studied? Introduction Structural information provides a great deal of understanding of how a protein works, which can allow us to [...]

What is Polyclonal Antibody Sequencing?

2024-12-03T11:00:04-05:00June 1st, 2022|Articles|

The most straightforward solution would be to determine sequences of the dominating antibody forms in a polyclonal mixture to enable recombinant antibody generation and ensure reproducibility. This was recently made possible by the development of polyclonal antibody sequencing technology, which will be reviewed in this article.

May 2022

What is HDX-MS?

2024-11-11T12:42:48-05:00May 15th, 2022|Articles|

The origin of hydrogen-deuterium exchange (HDX) dates back to the 1950s, when protein scientist Linderstrøm-Lang created a method involving protein deuteration to distinguish amide hydrogens participating in secondary structures. Today, scientists frequently rely on HDX data to investigate protein structure, conformational dynamics, and protein-ligand interaction.

Enriching Engineered T Cells with Antibody Sequencing & Modulation

2024-04-24T10:56:54-04:00May 10th, 2022|Webinars|

Known, high-performing and well used antibodies against useful targets on CAR-T cells can be examined for mechanism of action using proteomics and mass spectrometry. Knowledge of the antibody sequences via Next Generation Protein Sequencing (NGPS) can be useful for humanizing or otherwise engineering constructs. Rapid Epitope mapping by HDX can be useful for both epitope and paratope engineering strategies.

April 2022

Broadly Neutralizing Antibody Cocktails Targeting Nipah Virus and Hendra Virus Fusion Glycoproteins

2024-04-24T10:43:58-04:00April 29th, 2022|Case Studies|

Hendra virus (HeV) and Nipah virus (NiV) are types of Henipaviruses (HNVs) that originated in bats and can infect the human respiratory system with detrimental consequences. As enveloped, single-stranded RNA viruses, HeV and NiV use attachment (G) and fusion (F) glycoproteins on the envelope membrane to enter host cells. So far, there are no approved therapeutics or vaccines to combat the viruses in humans.

Generation and Diversification of Recombinant Monoclonal Antibodies

2024-04-29T13:20:43-04:00April 22nd, 2022|Case Studies|

Monoclonal antibodies are essential reagents and research tools. They are commonly generated and produced in hybridoma cells and are expected to be highly consistent. However, the instability and fragility of hybridoma cells can cause unwanted mutations, additional chains, and permanent loss of important antibodies. On the other hand, the lack of standardization validation for commercial antibodies often keeps researchers in the dark leading to the reproducibility crisis. 

March 2022

First Immunoassay for Measuring Isoaspartate in Human Serum Albumin

2024-04-24T10:57:11-04:00March 25th, 2022|Case Studies|

The ongoing pandemic has reinforced the need for in vitro diagnostics to globally surveille emerging pathogens and provide better medical care. In particular, immunoassays are favoured due to their affordability, ease, and speed. Nevertheless, the combination of rapidly evolving pathogens, and more complex diseases resulting from increasing life expectancy worldwide require more sensitive and specific immunoassays in the nick of time. To increase sensitivity, immunoassay development can benefit from exploiting industry-leading technologies such as de novo protein sequencing.

February 2022

Camelid Antibodies and Nanobodies

2024-12-03T10:58:32-05:00February 4th, 2022|Articles|

Written by: Yuning Wang, PhD Updated: January 18, 2023 (Published: January 21, 2022) Contents Discovery of Camelid Antibodies What are Camelid Antibodies? Structure of Camelid Antibodies and Nanobodies Advantages of Camelid Antibodies and Nanobodies Camelid Antibodies and Nanobodies for Therapeutic and Research Applications How are Camelid Antibodies [...]

January 2022

Why Is Sequence Blindness Acceptable with Antibodies?

2024-04-24T10:57:47-04:00January 30th, 2022|Webinars|

There have been cases where researchers have trusted a kit, and they see a positive reaction only to, unfortunately, realize that the kit was actually detecting another protein because the kit’s antibody lot changed. Such was the case for the University of Toronto’s Diamandis team who spent half a million dollars and nearly two years due to an unreliable antibody. A certificate proving that the protein sequence of an antibody remains unchanged would have easily avoided the aforementioned mishaps.

Recombinant Therapeutic pAbs are Now Possible

2024-04-24T10:58:06-04:00January 20th, 2022|Webinars|

Polyclonal antibodies are popular research reagents for their high sensitivity and robust cross-platform performance. But few companies consider them viable for therapeutic applications as they are almost impossible to characterize. Additionally, they suffer from a lack of reproducibility and limited supply. Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) can be reliably characterized and produced for therapeutic applications, but are more costly to discover and develop. Rapid Novor’s REpAb technology can overcome these limitations by capturing the sequences of the most abundant IgG in a pAb and enabling indefinite antibody production. Here we report the first successful conversion of a goat polyclonal antibody into a cocktail of recombinant mAbs using only the pAb protein sample.

Recombinant Antibodies: A New Generation Enabled by Protein Sequencing

2024-12-03T11:01:29-05:00January 19th, 2022|Articles|

Recombinant antibodies are artificially synthesized antibodies. Recombinant antibodies are generated from expression systems (e.g., E.coli, yeast, mammalian cell lines) via transfection with two separate plasmids encoding the amino acid sequences for the light and heavy chains, respectively. In order to recombinantly produce mAbs, the amino acid sequence of the light and heavy chains must be known. There are many ways to obtain the sequence of an antibody.

December 2021

Polyclonal Antibody Sequencing in Therapeutics Development Pipelines

2024-04-25T10:13:31-04:00December 20th, 2021|Webinars|

Over the past several years Rapid Novor has been developing the world's best antibody protein sequencing platform, with over 2700 monoclonal antibodies and proteins sequenced. In 2020, they unveiled their most advanced technology to date- REpAb® polyclonal antibody sequencing. The platform combines the world's best protein sequencing technology and NGS to comprehensively mine the antigen specific antibody repertoire present in rabbit and human patient samples. By leveraging the platform, teams can build robust antibody assays and therapeutic leads derived from patient's blood.

Next Generation Protein Sequencing in Veterinary Medicine and Industry

2024-04-24T10:44:32-04:00December 3rd, 2021|Whitepapers|

Since 2006, the One Health Initiative (OHI)’s goal has been to demonstrate the inextricable link between humans, animals, and the environment. Certainly, the current global pandemic is a great testament to the ties between climate change, humans, and animals that OHI has been working to highlight. The rise of other zoonotic diseases (e.g., Hendra, and Nipah viruses) not only directly affect humans through disease transmission but may also result in deep impacts to the food supply

November 2021

What is IgBLAST?

2024-12-03T11:15:17-05:00November 25th, 2021|Articles|

Written by Yuning Wang, PhD and María Gerpe, PhD November 12, 2021 Contents IgBLAST Definition Why was IgBLAST Created? The Functions of IgBLAST How to Use IgBLAST Limitations of IgBLAST Additional Resources IgBLAST Definition Developed by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), IgBlast is [...]

October 2021

What is Peptide Mapping?

2024-04-01T15:47:50-04:00October 28th, 2021|Articles|

Peptide mapping is a widely used analytical technique to verify the primary structure (amino acid sequence) and characterize the chemical modifications of a protein. It analyzes peptides generated from the digestion of an isolated protein, or a protein mixture

Ushering the New Era in Anti-Drug Antibody Assays with Next Generation Protein Sequencing

2024-04-24T10:45:13-04:00October 15th, 2021|Whitepapers|

Anti-drug antibody (ADA) assays are critical to assess the clinical efficacy and safety of a biological drug and rely on control reagents that mimic the ADA response to the biological drug being tested. These positive controls typically consist of animal-derived pooled polyclonal antibodies or human monoclonal antibody reference panels against the target protein drug.

September 2021

Structure of an Amino Acid

2024-12-03T11:20:28-05:00September 14th, 2021|Articles|

Amino acids are small organic molecules that make up peptides and proteins. All living organisms share the same set of amino acids. Amino acids come together in different orders (sequences) to form proteins. As such, each type of protein has a different three-dimensional structure and biological activity.

Monoclonal vs Polyclonal Antibody Drugs

2024-12-03T11:21:15-05:00September 8th, 2021|Articles|

The transition from polyclonal antibody drugs to a more targeted monoclonal approach was made possible through a series of scientific and technological advancements; the most notable of which is the hybridoma technique developed by Köhler and Milstein, which allowed the generation of pure antibodies at scale.

Why is Protein Sequencing Useful?

2024-10-29T12:12:36-04:00September 3rd, 2021|Articles|

Protein sequencing is a method that typically utilizes mass spectrometry (MS) to determine the amino acid code of a protein1. Prior to the development of mass spectrometry, Edman degradation, a method involving the stepwise degradation of peptides to derive the order of amino acids, was the mainstream approach. Nowadays, mass spectrometry is favored due to its ease of use and high throughput capabilities, though Edman degradation is still employed for specific applications in which the technique is well suited.

August 2021

What are Monoclonal Antibodies?

2024-12-03T11:29:29-05:00August 25th, 2021|Articles|

Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) are homogenous antibodies that bind to a single epitope on an antigen. Kohler and Milstein generated the first mAbs when they developed hybridoma technology in the 1970s. Because of the specificity, homogeneity and unlimited availability, mAbs are valuable reagents used in a variety of important applications including treatment and diagnosis of diseases

How to Determine Peptide Sequences

2023-05-15T11:41:09-04:00August 17th, 2021|Articles|

Amino acids (aa)—the building blocks of proteins—are simple molecules characterized by a variable R group flanked either side by an amino group and a carboxyl group. With around 20 different commonly found amino acids, each one can bond with another to produce chains that can be classified as peptides (typically below 50 aa) and proteins (sequences above 50 aa)—molecules ubiquitous to every known organism.

Key Pain Points in Amino Acid Sequencing & How to Avoid Them

2024-12-03T11:31:58-05:00August 13th, 2021|Articles|

Amino acid sequencing is commonly performed using Edman degradation or mass spectrometry (MS). While mass spectrometry is favoured for its high throughput capabilities and ease of use, both techniques possess their own features and limitations. This article summarizes some of the key pain points inherent in the two methodologies when determining the amino acid sequence.

Antibody Validation and its Use Cases

2024-04-29T13:22:17-04:00August 4th, 2021|Articles|

Antibodies are used in a variety of ways in academia and industry, from tools to therapeutics. Because antibodies are produced using live processes, which are naturally error-prone, validation is required from time to time. Furthermore, to develop biological therapeutics, the protein sequence must be confirmed as part of the regulatory process.

De Novo Protein Sequencing vs DNA Sequencing

2024-12-03T14:05:04-05:00August 1st, 2021|Articles|

DNA sequencing is the process of determining the precise order of four nucleotides bases—adenine (A), guanine (G), cytosine (C), and thymine (T)—that make up the DNA molecule. From Sanger sequencing to next-generation sequencing (NGS), DNA sequencing’s accessibility and ease of use make it one of the most widely used technologies in life sciences.

July 2021

Why Verifying the Protein Sequence Is Crucial for Antibody Validation

2023-06-21T10:46:18-04:00July 23rd, 2021|Articles|

As proteins are assembled, they fold into different structural orders: from primary to quaternary. The exact sequence of the primary structure (the amino acid sequence) will dictate how a protein will fold and function. The importance of the primary structure has been noted in several studies, where changes in the original amino acid sequence have resulted in affinity problems, binding disruption, reduced half-life, and higher aggregation odds.

Fully Harnessing the Power of Immunotherapy through Protein Sequencing

2024-04-24T10:59:22-04:00July 20th, 2021|Webinars|

Of interest to human and veterinary drug development scientists, biologics and biosimilars development scientists, scientists performing pre-clinical assay development, immunotherapy researchers, oncolytic therapy development scientists, gene therapy development scientists, gene therapy, and oncolytic therapy researchers, CAR-T, and CAR-NK development scientists

What is the De Novo Amino Acid Sequencing Method?

2024-12-03T11:44:49-05:00July 19th, 2021|Articles|

Proteins are composed of peptide chains, which in turn are made up of a string or linear sequence of amino acids. Every amino acid has a basic structure containing an amino (-NH2) group and a carboxylic (-COOH) group (Figure 1B). To form a peptide, amino acids link to each other via a peptide bond, which involves the reaction between the carboxylic group of one amino acid and the amine group of another amino acid.

What is Protein Mass Spectrometry?

2024-12-03T11:50:04-05:00July 18th, 2021|Articles|

Protein mass spectrometry refers to the use of mass spectrometry in studying and characterizing proteins, including their quantification, profiling, interaction mapping, and identification of their post-translational modifications. Protein mass spectrometry may also be referred to as mass spectrometry-based proteomics. Mass spectrometry-based proteomics comprises three approaches: top-down, middle-down, and bottom-up proteomics.

How Do You Obtain the Sequence of an Antibody?

2024-12-02T15:59:51-05:00July 10th, 2021|Articles|

Antibody sequences are critical for antibody engineering and protein characterization in therapeutic development. For antibody reagent users, knowing the sequences allows them to perform sequence analysis/alignment to identify binding and cross-reactivity so they can conduct rational experiment design.

Isoleucine and Leucine

2024-12-03T11:52:01-05:00July 7th, 2021|Articles|

Because they share the same mass, isoleucine and leucine are known as isobaric amino acids. Conventional mass spectrometry-based proteomics cannot be easily used to distinguish between isoleucine and leucine.

What is Amino Acid Sequencing?

2024-12-03T11:53:04-05:00July 5th, 2021|Articles|

Amino acid sequencing is the process of identifying the arrangement of amino acids in proteins and peptides. Numerous distinct amino acids have been discovered in nature but all proteins in the human body are comprised of just twenty different types.

June 2021

Bispecific Therapeutics Explained

2024-12-03T11:54:39-05:00June 28th, 2021|Articles|

Bispecific therapeutics are monoclonal antibodies that carry a specific antigen-binding capability on each arm. Bispecifics are thus capable of having two specificities that can either double the binding affinity of the antibody toward the same antigen (increased avidity), or can now bind to two targets. Bispecifics are most often described as two types: trispecifics and bispecific T-cell engaged antibodies (BiTE).

Types of Antibodies

2024-12-03T11:57:50-05:00June 25th, 2021|Articles|

Written by: María Gerpe, PhD Updated: January 27, 2023 (Published: June 25, 2021) Contents Introduction Types of Antibody Structures Functions of Antibodies Introduction Antibodies or immunoglobulins (Ig) are Y-shaped glycoproteins produced by the adaptive immune system in response to antigens - substances or molecules the immune [...]

Major Antibody Databases and Their Applications

2024-12-03T11:58:36-05:00June 18th, 2021|Articles|

Written by María Gerpe, PhD June 18, 2021 Introduction Research publications represent an additional source of validation proof for commercially available antibodies. As such, academic and industry scientists often also rely on publication references to decide which commercial antibody to purchase. Several independent efforts exist to compile such information. For instance, [...]

May 2021

Rapid Novor First to Decode Polyclonal Antibodies Using Only Proteomics

2023-06-27T10:45:14-04:00May 27th, 2021|News|

Rapid Novor First to Decode Polyclonal Antibodies Using Only Proteomics Rapid Novor Inc., the world's leader in antibody protein sequencing using mass spectrometry, announced today that it has reached a major milestone in the life sciences industry by being the first to successfully sequence polyclonal antibodies directly from proteins without DNA sequencing data. The team [...]

Polyclonal Antibody Sequencing with Only Proteomics

2024-04-25T10:12:57-04:00May 13th, 2021|Webinars|

Over the past 5 years Rapid Novor has perfected monoclonal antibody sequencing, and is now sequencing mAbs from polyclonal mixtures using REpAb®.  After successfully launching their proteogenomics based sequencing technology to deconvolute the immune response, the team has further evolved the technology and has derived the most abundant mAb sequences directly from rabbit blood using only proteomics. The talk will surround the development, progress and use cases for REpAb®.

April 2021

Non-Fungible Antibodies

2024-04-24T10:59:40-04:00April 20th, 2021|Webinars|

Other than a paucity in widespread use, such efforts still do not address the main issue: the uniqueness of antibodies. Unlike currency, antibodies are non-fungible. To manufacture a replica of a specific antibody, we must first know its sequence. Sometimes, scientists may obtain the sequence through nucleotide sequencing means.

Leveraging pAbs for Therapeutic Development

2024-12-03T12:47:40-05:00April 13th, 2021|Webinars|

Over the past several years Rapid Novor has been developing the world’s best antibody protein sequencing platform, sequencing over 2700 monoclonal antibodies and proteins. In 2020, they unveiled their most advanced technology to date - REpAb® polyclonal antibody sequencing. The platform combines the world’s best protein sequencing technology and NGS to comprehensively mine the antigen-specific antibody repertoire present in rabbit and human patient samples. By leveraging the platform, teams can build robust antibody assays and therapeutic leads derived from patients’ blood.

March 2021

The Underlying Cause of Medical Diagnostic Invalidation

2024-04-24T10:53:24-04:00March 23rd, 2021|Whitepapers|

In-vitro diagnostics (IVDs) are one of the most commonly used tools to diagnose conditions and guide treatment decisions and are often considered the “silent champion” of healthcare. They work by detecting the absence or presence of particular markers or by measuring the concentration of analytes or specific substances.

Leveraging Polyclonal Antibody Sequencing to Get High Affinity Binders Against Tough Targets

2023-06-21T10:56:04-04:00March 13th, 2021|Webinars|

When it comes to polyclonal antibodies, how they are discovered can be just as important as how they are reproduced. In our talk originally presented at Antibody Engineering & Therapeutics Digital 2021, we highlighted the latest technology that’s capable of capturing the most abundant and high-affinity monoclonal antibodies directly from a poly mixture.

January 2021

November 2020

October 2020

Research Insurance with De Novo Protein Sequencing

2024-04-01T15:50:35-04:00October 3rd, 2020|Webinars|

If you could have guaranteed stability, certainty, and reproducibility for your research, would you be interested? Imagine this, if you’re 2 years into your project and your freezer died along with all of your important cell lines, what would you do? This is just one of the situations covered in this webinar, along with many other solutions researchers have begun to implement to safeguard their efforts. Whether you’re looking to proceed with stability and certainty or you’re looking for an immediate solution for your current reproducibility challenges, protein sequencing may be the answer.

September 2020

July 2020

Kitchener Biotech Rapid Novor Raised $5M USD to Decode Immune System

2023-06-27T10:43:18-04:00July 28th, 2020|News|

Kitchener Biotech Rapid Novor Raised $5M USD to Decode Immune System Rapid Novor Inc., the world's leader in antibody protein sequencing using mass spectrometry, announced today that it has secured a $5 million US dollar Series A round of financing led by Co-Win Venture. The investment will accelerate the company’s growth in technological and clinical [...]

May 2020

Introduction to De Novo Protein Sequencing

2023-06-21T10:54:37-04:00May 21st, 2020|Webinars|

In this on-demand webinar, our scientific sales executive Jennifer, will briefly cover the fundamentals of protein sequencing, how researchers have benefited from implementing protein sequencing into their pipelines, and discuss how Rapid Novor is able to routinely and robustly achieve 100% accuracy and 100% coverage for both monoclonal and oligoclonal antibodies.

October 2019

Next Generation Protein Sequencing Company Rapid Novor Enters into New Phase of Growth

2023-06-15T21:29:25-04:00October 2nd, 2019|News|

Next Generation Protein Sequencing Company Rapid Novor Enters into New Phase of Growth Rapid Novor, Inc., the world's leader in antibody protein sequencing using mass spectrometry, is pleased to announce that it has moved into a new, 5000 sqft, purpose-built, state-of-the-art facility. Now home to four proteomics-grade mass spectrometers among other analytical instruments, the new [...]

August 2019

April 2019

October 2018

Rapid Novor Booth #208 @ PEGS Europe Conference

2021-09-21T23:05:25-04:00October 15th, 2018|Events|

Team Rapid Novor will be attending PEGS Europe, 12 -16 November 2018, Lisbon Congress Center, Lisbon, Portugal. Booth #208 Our co-founder and CEO, Mingjie, will speak at the conference. He will talk about the goal, the challenges and our REmAb™ approach towards antibody protein sequencing. We have recently accelerated our sequencing project delivery timeline and reduced the amount of mAb protein samples [...]

Meet Rapid Novor at European Antibody Congress

2021-09-21T23:05:12-04:00October 15th, 2018|Events|

Team Rapid Novor will be touring Europe in the next several weeks. The first conference is the European Antibody Congress, 29 – 31 October 2018, Congress Centre, Basel, Switzerland. Booth #18. At the conference, our co-founder and CEO, Mingjie, will talk about the goal, the challenges and our REmAb™ approach towards antibody protein sequencing. He will share in greater details the experiences and [...]