Efflux of monoclonal antibodies from rat brain by neonatal Fc receptor, FcRn.

Monoclonal antibody (mAb) engineering that optimizes binding to receptors present on brain vascular endothelial cells has enabled them to cross through the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and access the brain parenchyma to treat neurological diseases. However, once in the brain the extent to which receptor-mediated reverse transcytosis clears mAb from the brain is unknown. The aim of this study was to determine the contribution of the neonatal Fc-receptor (FcRn) in rat brain efflux employing two different in vivo drug delivery models.

Cellular dielectric spectroscopy: a powerful new approach to label-free cellular analysis.

The past decade has seen a number of significant changes in identifying higher quality lead compounds earlier in the drug discovery process. Cell-based assay technologies yielding high-content information have emerged to achieve this goal. Although most of these systems are based on fluorescence detection, this article describes the development and application of an innovative cellular assay technology based on radio frequency spectrometry and bioimpedance measurements.

Sample pre-concentration by isotachophoresis in microfluidic devices.

We have designed microfluidic devices with the aim of coupling isotachophoresis (ITP) with zone electrophoresis (ZE) as a method to increase the concentration limit of detection in microfluidic devices. We used plastic multi-channel chips, designed with long sample injection channel segments, to increase the sample loading. The chip was designed to allow stacking of the sample into a narrow band by discontinuous ITP buffers and subsequent separation in the ZE mode.