NanoSight

Press Releases

NanoSight Announces Interactive Webinar on September 9th on the Characterization of Protein Aggregation

Salisbury, UK, 26th August 2010: NanoSight, world-leading manufacturers of unique nanoparticle characterization technology will host an interactive webinar on the subject of the characterization of protein aggregation. It will be held on Thursday 9th September, 0700 PDT, 1000 EDT, 1500 BST, then again live, two hours later at 0900 PDT, 1200 EDT, 1700 BST

Characterizing aggregation in proteins is paramount in understanding both biopharmaceutical product stability and efficacy. Product quality, both in terms of biological activity and immunogenicity can be highly influenced by the state of protein aggregation. A wide variety of aggregates are encountered in biopharmaceutical samples. These may be soluble or insoluble in nature, covalent or non-covalently bonded and produced by an aggregation process which may or may not be reversible. Observed sizes of stable aggregates range from small oligomers (nanometers) to insoluble micron-sized aggregates that may contain millions of monomer units.

The objectives in characterizing aggregation include:

• Quantitatively describing degree of aggregation (concentration by size class).
• Definition of acceptable quality, in development, in process or as a release test.
• Providing insight into the mechanisms of aggregation onset, as it begins at the nanoscale.

NanoSight has recently applied Nanoparticle Tracking Analysis (NTA) to protein aggregation. This technique allows nanoscale particles, such as protein aggregates, to be directly and individually visualised and counted in liquid in real-time to provide high-resolution particle size distribution profiles.

The technique is fast, robust, accurate and low cost, representing an attractive alternative or complement to existing methods of nanoparticle analysis such as Dynamic Light Scattering, DLS (also known as Photon Correlation Spectroscopy, PCS) or Electron Microscopy.

This webinar will also describe the NTA technique and compare its strengths and limitations with other techniques currently used. The format will be interactive, aiming to give participants an opportunity to pose questions on the challenges and techniques in this important topic. The webinar will be led by Dr Bob Carr, founder and CTO of NanoSight.

Click here to register or paste this link into your browser: http://www.nanosight.com/webinar

To learn more about nanoparticle characterization using NTA, please visit www.nanosight.com and register to receive the next issue of NanoTrail, the company’s electronic newsletter.

NanoSight's founder and CTO, Dr Bob Carr

About NanoSight
NanoSight Ltd, of Amesbury, UK, is the world leading provider of instruments for the optical detection and real time analysis of sub-micron particles. The Company supplies unique instruments for nanoparticle analysis in the sub-micron region that have specific application in virus particle detection and counting. These instruments go far beyond existing light scattering techniques in characterizing polydispersed systems. Founded in 2004, the company currently has approaching 200 systems in service worldwide, having begun commercial sales in 2006.

The Company’s proprietary knowledge and expertise has enabled the delivery of technologies to blue chip companies and universities for direct visualization of individual nanoscale particles in suspension from which independent quantitative estimation of particle size, size distribution and concentration are immediately obtained. The Company has recently launched additions to its advanced Nanoparticle Tracking Analysis (NTA) software that build on the ground-breaking work of NanoSight’s LM20 and LM10 systems.

The Company has a growing base of users worldwide, including BASF, GlaxoSmithKline, 3M Corp, BP, ICI, Roche & Unilever and many universities. For more information, visit NanoSight's website.

For further information
Please contact NanoSight direct or their marketing agency, NetDyaLog Limited: