In this Issue:
What’s new at Base Pair:
– Dr. Vicki Singer joins Base Pair as new CEO
– Dr. Richard Longeras joins Base Pair as new Senior Manager of Business Development
What’s new in aptamers:
– International Society on Aptamers (INSOAP) publishes inaugural newsletter
– Base Pair CSO to speak next month in “Aptamers 2016” (Oxford, UK)
– Base Pair collaborator wins “Runner-up, Young Investigator” at SPIE
Base Pair product highlight:
– Aptamers to extracellular matrix proteins
What’s New at Base Pair?
As Base Pair enters its fifth year of growth and development, we are pleased to announce the appointment of two experienced industry professionals to our senior leadership team. We are excited about the new capabilities and ideas that these new leaders bring to our company, enabling Base Pair to be an even better partner to you, our customers.
New CEO
Base Pair Biotechnologies is pleased to announce that Dr. Vicki Singer has joined the company as its new Chief Executive Officer.
Dr. Singer is a seasoned life science industry veteran, with more than 25 years’ experience leading business segments, strategy, marketing, business development and research and development teams. She served as Vice President and Head of Technology Strategy for Life Technologies (LIFE) and Thermo Fisher Scientific, as Global Head of Out Licensing for LIFE, Business Segment Director for the Labeling & Detection (Molecular Probes) business of Invitrogen, as Business Development Director for Invitrogen and Molecular Probes, and formed and led the Molecular Biology Research and Development team at Molecular Probes, along with leading marketing for Molecular Probes’ molecular biology, proteomics and cytogenetics products. Dr. Singer holds a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from UC Berkeley and performed postdoctoral studies at Harvard Medical School.
New Business Development Leader
We are also pleased to announce that Dr. Richard Longeras has joined Base Pair as Senior Manager of Business Development. Dr. Longeras holds a Ph.D. in Cell Biology from University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center and has eight years’ experience in complex technical selling and business development roles, including at The Jackson Laboratory, SeraCare Life Sciences and Arotec Diagnostics.
Company founder, Dr. Bill Jackson will continue to serve as Base Pair’s Chief Scientist.
The International Society on Aptamers (INSOAP) Publishes Inaugural Newsletter
In February the International Society on Aptamers (INSOAP) published its very first Newsletter, “The INSOAP Times”. Base Pair was delighted to be highlighted as a student travel sponsor to “Aptamers 2016” in Oxford, UK (see more details in story below).
Base Pair Chief Scientist to speak at Aptamers 2016 in Oxford, UK.
Base Pair is pleased to announce that Chief Scientist, Dr. Bill Jackson will speak at “Aptamers 2016” in Oxford, UK on April 4th. His talk is entitled “Applications of newly discovered aptamers in a variety of biosensors and assay formats”.
Immediately following Dr. Jackson, long-time Base Pair collaborator, Dr. Darryl Bornhop (Vanderbilt University) will present his work entitled “Backscattering interferometry (BSI) marries aptamer-based assays to enable quantitation of nerve agent metabolites and human cytomegalovirus in urine at clinical relevant levels”. Dr. Bornhop’s talk highlights the use of aptamers generated by Base Pair to detect small molecules as well as viral proteins in urine.
Base Pair collaborator honored by SPIE and Ocean Optics, Inc.
Congratulations to Ms. Haley Marks on winning the Ocean Optics “Runner Up Young Investigator” at SPIE (The International Society for Optics and Photonics). Ms. Marks is a 4th year graduate student at Texas A&M University working on a project headed by Base Pair’s Chief Scientist Dr. Bill Jackson. In their recent paper entitled, “Comparison of Fe2O3 and Fe2CoO4 core-shell plasmonic nanoparticles for aptamer mediated SERS assays” the authors describe the optimization of a Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) assay for small molecule environmental toxins using silver nanoparticles functionalized with aptamers.
Base Pair scientists have developed aptamers to five important extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins. In humans the ECM comprises proteins, polysaccharides, and other molecules, which provide structural and biochemical support to the surrounding cells. Due to its diverse nature and composition, the ECM can serve many functions, such as providing support, segregating tissues from one another, and regulating intercellular communication. The extracellular matrix regulates a cell’s dynamic behavior. In addition, it sequesters a wide range of cellular growth factors and acts as a local store for them. Changes in physiological conditions can trigger protease activities that cause local release of such stores. This allows the rapid and local growth factor-mediated activation of cellular functions without de novo synthesis [1]. An understanding of ECM structure and composition aids in comprehending the complex dynamics of tumor invasion and metastasis in cancer biology as metastasis often involves the destruction of extracellular matrix by enzymes such as serine proteases, threonine proteases, and matrix metalloproteinases [2].
Aptamers targeting these important proteins can potentially be used in diagnostic tests, histochemical staining, or as recruitment molecules in biomedical implants or three dimensional tissue scaffolds, for use in vivo or in vitro.
Links to Base Pair’s ECM aptamers can be found below.
Collagen
Fibrinogen
Fibronectin
Heparan sulfate proteoglycan
Laminin
Figure 1. Biolayer Interferometry traces for aptamer binding to human fibronectin. A KD of 1.7 nM was determined.
References:
1. Extracellular matrix [Internet]. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 2016 [cited 2016 Feb 29]. Available from: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Extracellular_matrix&oldid=707312163
2. Liotta LA, Tryggvason K, Garbisa S, Hart I, Foltz CM, Shafie S. Metastatic potential correlates with enzymatic degradation of basement membrane collagen. Nature. 1980;284:67–8.