Bio-layer Interferometry (BLI) Technology for Coronavirus Research
Creative Biostructure provides comprehensive services for the study on the interaction of biological macromolecules such as proteins involved in coronavirus research. Similar to surface plasmon resonance (SPR), bio-layer interferometry (BLI) is also a label-free binding technology that measures the binding kinetics of biomolecular interactions in real time.
Brief Introduction to Bio-layer Interferometry (BLI)
BLI is an optical technique that can measure the binding kinetics and affinity of biological macromolecule interactions through analyzing interference patterns of light reflected from the biosensor tip surface. In a BLI experiment, a biosensor tip is exposed to buffer conditions and light and then served as a reference. The remaining tips are exposed to experimental conditions. The binding partner is immobilized to form a layer, and analytes are located in a 96-well plate. The change in the thickness of the external layer of immobilized protein reflects variance in wavelength as the two binding partners interact, which can be recorded in real-time with high accuracy. BLI has the advantages of high throughput, high sensitivity, low vibrational/mechanical noise, and is more cost-effective than the SPR method. However, this technology also has shortcomings. Since the technology is still relatively new, there are more issues to be resolved before achieving full repeatability, and the experiment data should be cross-validated with the SPR.
Figure 1. Principles of the BLI biosensor platform, developed by ForteBio.
Our BLI Services for Coronavirus Research
In response to the sudden outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 (provisionally named 2019-nCoV), researchers have detected the binding kinetics of SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) protein with ACE2 through biolayer interferometry binding assay and other methods, thus inferring that ACE2 may be the receptor of SARS-CoV-2 and the expression of SARS-CoV-2 receptor-binding domain (RBD) is of great significance. Moreover, BLI technology has also been applied to the screening of SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies and peptide binders.
BLI technology has a wide range of applications, including but not limited to affinity and kinetics determination, protein quantification, library screening, drug/antibody screening, drug/antibody discovery, and drug process development optimization. Creative Biostructure has accumulated a lot of experience from many label-free real-time BLI analysis projects of interacting molecules. Our BLI services have been proven reliable by customers from academia and the pharmaceutical/diagnostic industries. For research on coronavirus infection, we can provide you with:
- BLI project consultations and experiment design
- BLI assay development and optimization
- Detection and analysis of binding kinetics of protein or other biomolecules based on BLI technology
- Antibody characterization, such as affinity detection of antibody and antigen/complement
- Consistency evaluation of protein/antibody to guarantee quality
Creative Biostructure has established various approaches involving first-class techniques for affinity and kinetics measurement. Want to know more? Please feel free to contact us for more information. Our customer service representatives are available 24 hours a day from Monday to Sunday.
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References
- Sultana A, Lee J E. Measuring protein-protein and protein-nucleic acid interactions by biolayer interferometry. Current protocols in protein science. 2015, 79(1): 19-25.
- Tian X.; et al. Potent binding of 2019 novel coronavirus spike protein by a SARS coronavirus-specific human monoclonal antibody. Emerging microbes & infections. 2020, 9(1): 382-385.
- Zhang G.; et al. The first-in-class peptide binder to the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. bioRxiv. 2020.
