NanoPro Technology

NanoPro technology provides a protein/phosphoprotein assay with many of the attributes of Western blot analysis — an assay that combines a physical separation of proteins with the specificity of antibody-based detection. Because of a unique capillary-based design, NanoPro assays are highly quantitative, seamlessly automated, and extremely sensitive. As a result, for the first time, researchers can analyze previously undetectable low-abundance proteins while conserving rare and precious samples such as stem cells, primary cells, and fine needle aspirates.

How does it work? As shown in the figure below, after the sample is loaded into the NanoPro system, the NanoPro assay is performed in six steps:

	Step 1: Load The capillary is filled with a 400-nL mixture of sample, fluorescently labeled pI standards and ampholytes.
	Step 2: Separate Voltage is applied across the capillary to drive the IEF separation. Individual proteins and pI standards concentrate at their isoelectric points, and the position of each standard in the capillary is recorded.
	Step 3: Immobilize The capillary is exposed to UV light, activating the proprietary linking chemistry and locking the separated protein isoforms to the capillary wall.
	Step 4: Immunoprobe The capillary is rinsed and immunoprobed for specific proteins. Luminol and peroxide are added to generate chemiluminescent light, which is captured by a CCD camera.
	Step 5: Quantitate The digital image is analyzed and quantitative results are presented in the software.