Human Tropomyosin Receptor Kinase TrkA, TrkB, TrkC Assays Now Available
Assays for Human Tropomyosin Receptor Kinases Developed to Help Identify Inhibitors and Activators of Nerve Growth Factor Receptors.
State College, PA (January 3, 2023) – INDIGO Biosciences announced today the release of three new cell-based luciferase reporter assays for Human Tropomyosin Receptor Kinases TrkA (NTRK1), TrkB (NTRK2), and TrkC (NTRK3).
TrkA, TrkB, and TrkC—also known as Neurotrophic Tyrosine Kinase Receptors, types 1, 2, and 3—are members of a family of nerve growth factor receptors. These receptors are expressed in multiple human tissues and play key roles in the growth, development, and survival of nerve cells. This makes them important for research into new therapeutics for pain, central nervous system injury, ophthalmic disorders, and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. In addition, neurotrophic tyrosine receptor kinase (NTRK) gene fusions have been linked to various types of human cancers, making TrkA, TrkB, and TrkC important targets for developing therapeutic treatments.
“TrkA, TrkB, and TrkC all bind with different preferred ligands,” explained Bruce Sherf, PhD, INDIGO’s Chief Technology Officer. “However, these receptors share a high degree of homology and utilize overlapping signaling pathways, so researchers will likely find it useful to employ all three assays as they consider candidate compounds during drug discovery. By using all three assays, one can gain a better understanding of a compound’s ability to act as an agonist or antagonist of single-receptor activity as well as whether a compound has the potential for off-target effects with other receptors.”
INDIGO’s Human Tropomyosin Receptor Kinase assay kits are all-inclusive, offering everything needed to perform the assay and screen test samples to quantify functional interactions, either activating or inhibitory, that they may exert against TrkA, TrkB, or TrkC. Included in each kit are cryopreserved reporter cells, two optimized media for use in recovering the cryopreserved cells and for diluting test samples, respectively, a receptor-specific reference activator, Luciferase Detection Reagents, and a cell culture-ready assay plate.
INDIGO’s Reporter Cells are cryopreserved using INDIGO’s proprietary CryoMite™ process. This cryo-preservation method allows for the immediate dispensing of healthy, division-competent reporter cells into assay-ready plates. There is no need for intermediate treatment steps such as spin-and-rinse of cells, viability determinations or cell titer adjustments prior to assay setup. By including all necessary components, including Reporter Cells, in one easy-to-use kit, INDIGO helps researchers obtain results quickly since there is no need to procure components from multiple sources or to transfect and propagate cells.
INDIGO’s TrkA, TrkB, and TrkC assay kits are available in 1 x 96-well and 1 x 384-well formats. Bulk volumes of Trk assay reagents are available to accommodate high throughput screening applications. INDIGO can also perform the Trk assays in its own lab as a service for researchers.
About INDIGO Biosciences, Inc.
INDIGO Biosciences is a leading provider of cell-based luciferase reporter assays. They offer assays as turnkey kits for use by scientists in their own labs, or INDIGO can perform the assays as a service. Their products and services are used in a broad range of industries such as environmental, drug discovery, academia, and contract research organizations. Their assays have been demonstrated to provide fast, accurate, reproducible results, and INDIGO is dedicated to supporting scientists through reliable science, easy-to-use products, and a highly qualified technical support team. Learn more at indigobiosciences.com.
