Sirtuin enzymes 'significantly improve' pharma development

The pharma development process can be improved significantly with the sirtuin range of enzyme preparations validated in a label-free functional assay and developed jointly by BlueSky Biotech and BIOCIUS Life Sciences, the companies claim.

In collaboration with one another, the two firms have developed SIRT1, the first release in their range of silent mating type information regulation homologs, or SIRTs.

SIRT1 is linked with a number of cellular processes that could prove useful in pharma development, including insulin signalling, cancer and apoptosis.

"Validation using a label-free, functional assay is especially important for sirtuins given the controversy surrounding fluorescent-based assays," says William LaMarr, vice-president of research and contract services at BIOCIUS.

His comments relate to other research involving sirtuins, in which potential anti-ageing properties were believed to have been identified but subsequently found to be apparent only when the sample was tagged with the necessary agent required to permit fluorescence-based assaying.

In the months to come, more validated enzymes are due to be released by the two firms to further advance drug development for pharma companies.