Berlin, Germany, January 19, 2009 – caprotec bioanalytics GmbH announced today that they completed the commercial launch of their first two caproKitsTM. The products are designed for researchers in the area of proteomics and drug development who are interested in small molecule protein interactions. The two products are called SAH caproKit and cAMP caproKit, respectively.

caproKits are based on caprotec’s proprietary Capture Compound Mass Spectrometry (CCMS) technology, a novel and direct way to investigate small molecule – protein interactions resulting in a significant functional reduction of proteome complexity. Capture Compounds enable to directly isolate and identify selected proteins including membrane proteins out of any complex biological sample.

The SAH caproKit enables the discovery, identification and characterization of proteins that interact with SAH and SAM (S-adenosyl-L-homocysteine and S-adenosyl-L-methionine, respectively). These proteins play pivotal roles in many metabolic and regulatory processes, for example as methyltransferases in epigenetic processes that control the expression patterns of many genes.

The cAMP caproKit enables discovery, identification and characterization of proteins that interact with cAMP (cyclic adenosine monophosphate) an important molecule in the process of signal transduction within cells.

“The SAH – and cAMP caproKits have both been rigorously tested in-house and by our external beta testers and their performance has exceeded our expectations. Testers of the new products include prestigious, world-renown research institutions, for example RWTH Aachen and Johns Hopkins University and commercial entities such as New England Biolabs” stated Dr. Hubert Köster, CEO of caprotec bioanalytics.

“These Capture Compounds are Chemical Biology at it’s best. They led to identification of proteins that specifically bind to small molecules, like cofactors, ligands, inhibitors or drugs, and will have a tremendous impact on basic research in proteomics as well as in pharmaceutical research”, states Prof. Elmar Weinhold from the Institute of Organic Chemistry, RWTH Aachen University in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

Dr. Köster continues: “We are also very pleased to report first orders for the new products and have already started to ship caproKits to our customers. These two new caproKits are but the beginning of a series of products that we are planning to release. Additional caproKits will be launched on a quarterly basis as we continue to build product lines that are aimed at the areas of epigentics, protein kinases and hormone research.”

Both new caproKits will be presented at the US HUPO Meeting in San Diego, CA from February 22nd to 25th where caprotec is exhibiting and invited to an oral presentation of a poster entitled: ‘Small Molecule Capture Compounds – towards a targeted reduction of proteome complexity’.