NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, England, Oct 08, 2008 — Nonlinear Dynamics Ltd, the world leading developer of analysis solutions for proteomics and biomarker discovery, has announced that Boston University’s Cardiovascular Proteomics Center (CPC) Core Laboratory have chosen the Progenesis software range for their label free LC-MS and 2D data analyses.

Progenesis LC-MS v1.1 offers users an incredibly fast and visual approach for label-free, quantitative LC-MS analysis. The CPC Core Laboratory at Boston University had early access to the technology and collaborated on the final development stages to help fine tune the finished product. In research presented by Dr. David Perlman (presentation MP661) at the American Society for Mass Spectrometry (ASMS) meeting the Progenesis LC-MS software facilitated the analyses of LC-MS data obtained from whole-heart homogenate and was able to rapidly identify, from this complex biological sample, significant nitrite dose-dependent alterations in the cardiac proteome. These findings were associated with improved heart function under conditions which model myocardial infarction and may directly lead to the development of novel therapeutic strategies in the treatment and prevention of cardiovascular disease.

Progenesis SameSpots v3.0, for 2D and DIGE analysis was released earlier this year and has many high profile users who are benefiting from this exceptional technology. The unique alignment algorithm which is at the foundation of the Progenesis range was initially developed for 2D gel analysis however the algorithm has undergone significant development so the approach can be applied to LC-MS data analysis. In addition to this, intelligent peak modelling has been developed which reduces data by several orders of magnitude but still retains all the relevant quantitation and positional information. This means scientists can analyse large data sets with enough replicates to account for biological variation and are not limited by the analysis software.

Prof. Mark McComb, the director of the CPC Core Laboratory said, “Our laboratory collaborates with a diverse group of investigators on a wide range of clinically relevant projects ranging from highly-focused protein and post-translational modification (PTM) characterization to large-scale studies of changes in protein and PTM expression. As part of our bioinformatics platform, we have adopted Progenesis LC-MS and Progenesis SameSpots because they offer a powerful and sensitive means to identify changes in label-free, quantitative experiments. Furthermore, the software is particularly well designed, such that we may easily train our collaborative groups to interrogate their own data and mine more adequately for low-level changes thus increasing the likelihood of discovering novel findings.”

Will Dracup, CEO, Nonlinear Dynamics added, “We have seen a huge amount of interest in label-free, quantitative methods. We are delighted that the CPC researchers at Boston University have chosen the Progenesis range as it’s great to have such a high profile and well respected group using our technology in their research. What is particularly interesting about this work is that the samples which were analysed using Progenesis LC-MS were highly complex but still did not require significant pre-fractionation. Being able to minimize the pre-fractionation steps not only saves a huge amount of investigator time and instrument time but also reduces the likelihood of sample loss and minimizes the introduction of artefacts within the analytical scheme. Together, these factors will have an immense impact on research projects using this approach.”