Bulgarian Academy of the Sciences

Researchers have developed a novel sensor for the detection of bacteria. It is based on a chip with an innovative surface coating. This ensures that only very specific microorganisms adhere to the sensor -- such as certain pathogens. The larger the number of organisms, the stronger the electric signal generated by the chip. In this way, the sensor is able not only to detect dangerous bacteria with a high level of sensitivity but also to determine their concentration. Researchers at Goethe University Frankfurt and Kiel University have developed a novel sensor for the detection of bacteria. It is based on a chip with an innovative surface coating. This ensures that only very specific microorganisms adhere to the sensor -- such as certain pathogens. The larger the number of organisms, the stronger the electric signal generated by the chip. In this way, the sensor is able not only to detect dangerous bacteria with a high level of sensitivity but also to determine their concentration. Each year, bacterial infections claim several million lives worldwide. That is why detecting harmful microorganisms is crucial -- not only in the diagnosis of diseases but also, for example, in food production. However, the methods available so far are often time-consuming, require expensive equipment or can only be used by specialists. Moreover, they are often unable to distinguish between active bacteria and their decay products. By contrast, the newly developed method detects only intact bacteria. It makes use of the fact that microorganisms only ever attack certain body cells, which they recognize from the latter's specific sugar molecule structure. This matrix, known as the glycocalyx, differs depending on the type of cell. It serves, so to speak, as an identifier for the body cells. This means that to capture a specific bacterium, we need only to know the recognizable structure in the glycocalyx of its preferred host cell and then use this as "bait." This is precisely what the researchers have done. "In our study, we wanted to detect a specific strain of the gut bacterium Escherichia coli -- or E. coli for short," explains Professor Andreas Terfort from the Institute of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry at Goethe University Frankfurt. "We knew which cells the pathogen usually infects. We used this to coat our chip with an artificial glycocalyx that mimics the surface of these host cells. In this way, only bacteria from the targeted E. coli strain adhere to the sensor." E. coli has many short arms, known as pili, which the bacterium uses to recognize its host's glycocalyx and cling onto it. "The bacteria use their pili to bind to the sensor in several places, which allows them to hang on particularly well," says Terfort. In addition, the chemical structure of the artificial glycocalyx is such that microbes without the right arms slide off it -- like an egg off a well-greased frying pan. This ensures that indeed only the pathogenic E. coli bacteria are retained. But how were the scientists able to corroborate that bacteria really were attached to the artificial glycocalyx? "We bonded the sugar molecules to a conductive polymer," explains Sebastian Balser, a doctoral researcher under Professor Terfort and the first author of the paper. "By applying an electrical voltage via these 'wires', we are able to read how many bacteria had bonded to the sensor." The study documents how effective this is: The researchers mixed pathogens from the targeted E. coli strain among harmless E. coli bacteria in various concentrations. "Our sensor was able to detect the harmful microorganisms even in very small quantities," explains Terfort. "What's more, the higher the concentration of the targeted bacteria, the stronger the emitted signals." The paper is initial proof that the method works. In the next step, the involved working groups want to investigate whether it also stands the test in practice. Using it in regions where there are no hospitals with sophisticated lab diagnostics is conceivable, for example.

New AI-powered TIMSquant™ software for CCS-enabled, label-free quantification scalable to thousands of samples Early midia-PASEF® access for immunopeptidomics and PTMs on ultra-sensitive timsTOF Ultra for DDA-like precursor traceability in dia-PASEF Affordable, high-throughput ~3,500 PG plasma proteomics on timsTOF HT with PreOmics ENRICH kit using Biognosys Spectronaut® 18 directDIA+™ software New PepSep™ ULTRA XL and MAX HT nano-LC columns for DDA library creation and high-throughput proteomics, respectively Novel TwinScape™ digital twin for optimal timsTOF performance and uptime New partnership with Mass Dynamics for biological knowledge generation Enhanced MALDI HiPLEX-IHC workflow for spatial tissue proteomics New MetaboScape™ release for 4D-Lipidomics™ and 4D-Metabolomics™ BUSAN, South Korea--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- At the 22nd Human Proteome Organization World Congress 2023, Bruker Corporation (Nasdaq: BRKR) today announced advances in instrumental methods, consumables and software for 4D-Proteomics, MALDI HiPLEX-IHC spatial tissue proteomics, 4D-Lipidomics and 4D-Metabolomics. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: Fig. 1: TIMSquant for CCS-aware, AI-powered quantification (Graphic: Business Wire) A. Novel scalable AI-powered TIMSquant™ for label-free quantification Bruker introduces TIMSquant a scalable, CCS-enabled AI-powered label-free quantification algorithm integrated into Bruker ProteoScape™. TIMSquant performs accurate quantification of peptides and proteins present in 100s or 1000s samples by using global retention time and collision cross-section (CCS) prediction models. Accurate, large-scale CCS data further increases specificity and quantification consistency based on previously identified peptides and aligned missing values. Bruker ProteoScape is Bruker’s comprehensive GPU-powered, TIMS DIA-NN-based proteomics software optimized for CCS-centric informatics, and it now comes with the BPS Novor module for de novo peptide sequencing for immunopeptidomics. BPS Novor was co-developed with Rapid Novor Inc., a Canadian software and CRO company. TIMS DIA-NN is a customized version of highly regarded DIA-NN software by Demichev and collaborators. Dr. Kosuke Ogata, Assistant Professor at Kyoto University, commented: "Ultra-high speed LC-MS from large-scale clinical cohorts harnessing the high duty-cycle of timsTOF technology is a focus of our laboratory. Analysis of non-proteotypic peptides is critical to our research. We have installed the BPS Novor de novo software on Bruker ProteoScape (formerly PaSER) and we are impressed with the real-time speed and high-quality de novo sequences produced." Dr. Hanno Steen, Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School & Director of Proteomics at Boston Children's Hospital, stated: “We focus on the discovery and validation of biomarkers from body fluids, such as plasma, serum, CSF, saliva and urine in high throughput. We leverage the robustness of our timsTOF instruments and real-time Bruker ProteoScape to build large spectral libraries and analyze 1000s of clinical research samples. We have recently expanded our bioinformatics pipeline to run on ProteoScape, and are truly excited by the realistic potential to apply this for the analysis of 10,000s of LC/MS runs in real time to decipher the pathology of pediatric, immunologic, and neurological diseases.” B. Novel dia-PASEF scan modes Bruker offers selected upgrades to timsControl acquisition software with the key advances of 300 Hz PASEF and VistaScan™ technology as downloads from the Bruker web page (Reference 3). The 300Hz dda-PASEF acquisition now allows up to 18,000 CCS-enabled MS/MS spectra per minute with very short LC gradients. VistaScan allows scanning the quadrupole synchronously with the TIMS ramp during the mobility scan to optimally cover the ion population in the ion-mobility-mass to charge plane. (References 1 & 2). VistaScan enables midia-PASEF, exclusively licensed from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. Bruker is initiating a limited early-access program for midia-PASEF for immunopeptidomics and post-translational modifications (PTMs) on the ultra-sensitive timsTOF Ultra. These applications benefit from the sensitivity-with-speed of midia-PASEF, as well as the DDA-like precursor traceability that can be extracted from midia-PASEF data. C. PreOmics ENRICH Kit for affordable, high-throughput ~3,500 PG plasma proteomics Bruker, together with PreOmics and Biognosys are now offering further improved high-throughput, affordable, medium-depth plasma proteomics kits and CRO services for reliably quantifying ~3,500 protein groups using PreOmics ENRICH-iST microbeads (SP3 technology) from minimal sample amounts and various species without antibodies/aptamers. D. PepSep™ ULTRA XL and PepSep™ MAX HT columns Bruker announced the launch of the PepSep™ ULTRA XL and PepSep™ MAX HT columns. The PepSep ULTRA XL was designed for long LC gradients, e.g. for DDA-PASEF spectral library generation, which can improve confidence and coverage in peptide and protein identification during short gradients in DIA-PASEF analysis. The PepSep MAX HT is optimized for short-gradients (<15 min run0times) used for high throughput proteomics. Dr. Byoung-Kyu Cho, Assistant Professor at Washington University School of Medicine and Proteomics Lead at Mass Spectrometry Technology Access Center (MTAC) commented: “PepSep MAX HT columns have brought a remarkable transformation to our mass spectrometry endeavors. This compact column stands out with superior throughput, enduring robustness, and an interface that is user-friendly, making it easy to operate. To all colleagues in search of top-tier high-throughput data, I endorse the PepSep MAX HT.” E. TwinScape digital twin functionality in Bruker ProteoScape software To ensure optimal run conditions for every sample, Bruker introduces TwinScape™, a digital twin for the timsTOF platform, using Bruker ProteoScape software and the Biognosys iRT kit. TwinScape continuously monitors key parameters to ensure that complex assays and large studies are run under optimal conditions, supporting real-time QC with the iRT kit, which contains eleven non-naturally occurring synthetic peptides. The iRT kit peptides have been optimized for stability, sensitivity, rt spacing and peptide CCS. Dr. Roman Fischer, Associate Professor at University of Oxford, commented: “At the Centre for Translational Proteomics (CTP), we provide services for clients interested in deep proteomes from small sample amounts. Clinical proteomics and spatial proteomics both of require characterization of large sample cohorts at high throughput. Bruker ProteoScape monitors the sample and data quality in real-time, exploiting the outstanding robustness of the timsTOF platforms for high-throughput deep proteomics.” F. Biological knowledge generation from 4D-Proteomics with Mass Dynamics Bruker’s collaboration with Prof. Andrew Webb at WEHI, co-founder of Mass Dynamics Pty Ltd, has led to the integration of data from Bruker ProteoScape™ and now Spectronaut® with Mass Dynamics interactive visualization tools for knowledge extraction to allow scientists to answer more biological questions. G. Novel SpatialOMx workflows enhancing 4D-Proteomics In collaboration with AmberGen, Bruker further advances the novel MALDI HiPLEX-IHC workflow for spatial proteomics based on antibody-based localization of target proteins with a significantly enhanced probe selection and robust workflows similar to IHC protocols, adapting HiPLEX-IHC to a variety of areas from immunooncology to neuropathology. Dr. Bernd Bodenmiller, Professor University of Zuerich and ETH Zuerich, and Director of the Department of Quantitative Biomedicine, noted: “Recent research shows that spatial proteomics provides biological context about tissue neighborhoods by providing spatially defined biomarkers. The cellular arrangements and location of proteins in the tissue microenvironment elucidates biological mechanisms in disease or homeostasis, supporting novel precision medicine applications. Using HiPLEX-IHC tissue imaging on our timsTOF fleX enhances our multiomic spatial view of tissue ecosystems.” H. Novel MetaboScape software for 4D multiomic research In the new release of MetaboScape®, CCS-enabled 4D-Lipidomics is complemented by integrating semi-quantitative analysis utilizing stable isotopically labeled lipid standards. Dr. Heiko Hayen, Institute of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry, University of Münster, Germany, said: “The new CCS-enabled workflow with T-ReX 4D in MetaboScape allows us to accurately normalize our lipid class concentrations with labelled internal standards. By adopting this solution, we observed a noticeable improvement in standard deviations among covered lipids, enhancing reproducibility in our lipidomics research.” Dr. Viswa Colluru, CEO and Founder of Enveda Biosciences, said: “The open software ecosystem provided by Bruker is at the foundation of our discovery platform. Their CCS-enabled workflows give us an edge in discerning compounds from nature with better resolution. Bruker’s commitment to innovation and customer support makes them a great partner and helps achieve our mission of translating nature into medicine." References: Distler et al., bioRxiv 2023.01.30.526204, Skowronek et al., Molecular & Cellular Proteomics, Feb 2023; 22(2):100489-100489, About Bruker Corporation (Nasdaq: BRKR) Bruker is enabling scientists to make breakthrough discoveries and develop new applications that improve the quality of human life. Bruker’s high performance scientific instruments and high value analytical and diagnostic solutions enable scientists to explore life and materials at molecular, cellular, and microscopic levels. In close cooperation with our customers, Bruker is enabling innovation, improved productivity, and customer success in life science molecular and cell biology research, in applied and pharma applications, in microscopy and nanoanalysis, as well as in industrial applications. Bruker offers differentiated, high-value life science and diagnostics systems and solutions in preclinical imaging, clinical phenomics research, proteomics and multiomics, spatial and single-cell biology, functional structural and condensate biology, as well as in clinical microbiology and molecular diagnostics. Please visit .

Start date is expected by the end of 2023 / beginning of 2024. VIRO also offers an update on Diabetic trials and Sagaliam transaction. ALLEN, TX / ACCESSWIRE / September 6, 2023 / Enzolytics, Inc. (OTC PINK:ENZC) ( ). Virogentics, Inc. ("VIRO"), a wholly owned subsidiary of Enzolytics, Inc. (the "Company" or "ENZC"), a drug development biotech company, announced today that based on the Bulgarian population of HIV-infected individuals that the sample size for the ITV-1 clinical trials will be 60 individuals. R&D Services Ltd. ("R&D"), under the leadership of Aneliya Vidinlieva, Manager Clinical Trials, assisted by Dr. Ivaylo Tsonev, Chief Medical Officer of Desing and three consultants assigned by the University of Pharmacology, will be performing the clinical trials. R&D and VIRO expect the clinical trials to begin in late 2023 or early 2024. With locations across Bulgaria, where the Clinical Trials will be conducted, R&D services will manage all the administration of the Clinical Trials of ITV-1 conducted in public, municipal, and private healthcare institutions. R&D is certified to ISO 9001:2015, ISO 27001:2013, and ISO 14001:2015 quality assurance standards for services provided. R&D Services Ltd.'s general responsibilities include but are not limited to the following: Improving the quality of the collected data during the clinical trials. Building up a trial site at each healthcare institution and providing all the necessary equipment for conducting clinical trials and premises for proper document and study drugs storage, in compliance with the Good Documentation Practice, Good Clinical Practice, and Good Manufacturing Practice. Ensuring protocol compliance, compliance with the International Conference on Harmonisation - Good Clinical Practice guideline, Bulgarian legislation and specific requirements of the Sponsor/CRO. Providing the necessary documents for the initial study submission. Prescreening of eligible patients during the initial review/approval period so that a maximum number of patients can be enrolled in the relevant time period. Redirecting eligible patients from trial sites that do not participate in the trial to sites that are approved; building a referral network of physicians to support the study enrollment. Quality checking all the needed documentation concerning the proper conduct of a clinical study (eCRF, temperature logs, subject logs, study drug accountability logs). Reporting any adverse events to the Sponsor/CRO. Ensuring document access for audits on behalf of the Sponsor/CRO, independent auditor, and regulatory authorities. In addition, the trials being conducted by R&D will include a review by an immunologist to evaluate any correlation of patient outcomes with a different origin of immune deficiency using cell examination. The Company's therapeutic developments will include participation by many established pharm entities, including the following. VETPROM AD, a division of the French company Danhson, currently headed by Stanislav Stoev, Executive Director,represents over 65 years of continuous operations in the Bulgarian economy and is one of the largest pharmaceutical manufacturers of medicinal products (for human and veterinary use), food supplements and cosmetics in Bulgaria. VETPROM manufactures products under its brand name, as well as for third parties under contract manufacture agreements operating under accepted ISO 9001:2008 System for quality of management and the integrated system for Good Manufacturing Practice, under requirements of Volume 4, Good manufacturing practice (GMP) Guidelines. The German Cooperative Clinical Grug Research and Development (CCDRD) is a contract research organization for clinical phase I-IV trials and will be performing the pharmacokinetics study on ITV-1 under the guidance and leadership of the CEO Rossen Koytchev, MD, PhD and Petra Kowalski PhD, Director of Business Development. CCDRD was founded in 1990 and has been performing clinical trials for over 30 years. The company is headquartered in Hoppegarten near Berlin, Germany. The Center of Phytochemistry was set up as a joint project of the Bulgarian Government, UNDP, and UNESCO for scientific and applied research and training of specialists in organic chemistry and chemistry of natural products. The organization was renamed The Institute of Organic Chemistry with Centre of Phytochemistry (IOCCP) and is the leading scientific institution in t organic and bio-organic chemistry field in Bulgaria. VIRO has engaged IOCCP, represented by Prof. DSc Pavlina Dolashka, a member of its organizing committee and scientific committee to perform the biochem analysis of ITV-1 at the Bulgarian Academy of Science. Documentation and correspondence that is required with the EMA as part of the permitting and application process will be performed for VIRO by Vili Topalova, MD EU QPPV Medical Director of AV Consult Pharm ("AVCP"). AVCP is a consulting company in the fields of Regulatory Affairs, Pharmacovigilance, Medical Devices vigilance, Cosmetovigilance, price and reimbursement and other consultancies for medical treatments. AVCP's expertise is based on years of experience with the Bulgarian Drug Agency (BDA) and the technical expertise of its employees - former experts and employees of the Bulgarian Drug Agency (BDA). As a result of a delay in delivery of the Toxicity report to the African hospitals, GOMA, PRC, and Panzi Hospital, Bukavu, DRC, the administration of the ITV-1 immunotherapy initial injections into the HIV/AIDS-infected volunteers was delayed. We expect that to commence soon. Since entering the U.S. Market six months ago, VIRO's growing nutraceutical division has resulted in the exclusive distribution licensing of + Liver Rescue™ in the North American market. This product accelerates the functions of the liver (accelerated emission of alcohol dehydrogenase), thereby reducing the harmful effects of alcohol on the body and the central nervous system. This is a new revolutionary nutritional supplement in the form of a drink, which is currently being marketed in Europe with great success. Coupled with the monthly increasing production and sales of IPF Immune™, the market potential for these products is favorable. Currently, the Company is pursuing testing IPF Immune as an immunomodulator under EMA guidelines on patients with cirrhosis, as an after-radiation and chemotherapy treatment of cancer patients in an attempt to reduce recovery time from the effects, impact on HIV patients immune system (in addition to the ITV-1 Clinical trials), application for type 2 diabetes patients effect on blood sugar levels and glycosylated Hb (in addition to the clinical trials of ITV-1 as a treatment for type 2 diabetes scheduled for later this year), herpes, COVID, influenza and all diseases where there is an immune system decline - including autoimmune disease. With the potential of both ITV-1 and IPF Immune to participate in the aforementioned markets, capturing 1% of the 2022 autoimmune $104.21 billion market and the $84.56 2023 diabetes market, VIRO could realize over $2 billion in revenue in addition to what it captures in the HIV/AIDS $30.46 billion market where VIRO expects the most significant market penetration. VIRO has also filed two utility patent applications covering its new developments, one covering the European Union and one for the United States. "With the quality of our partners and our past success with ITV-1 Clinical trials, we at VIRO are expecting great success in not only the ITV-1 application to HIV but also its application to Diabetes and other areas being pursued," stated Harry Zhabilov, CSO of VIRO. ENZC has provided SAGA with its draft of the Business Combination Agreement and related documents and is awaiting any edits or comments in anticipation of a final version being circulated for signature by October 31, 2023. Barry Kostiner, CEO of Sagaliam, commented, "We are continuing to make progress on the consummation of our transaction with Enzolytics. The deep bench of expertise and therapeutic solutions is impressive. In addition to our dedicated scientists, we have an outstanding team of collaborators who support all aspects of the business including regulatory, clinical and manufacturing operations. The goal is to build a pharmaceutical platform company, going beyond one-off therapies, to providing solutions for broad categories of chronic disease." Enzolytics, Inc. Overview Enzolytics, Inc. is a drug development company committed to commercializing its proprietary proteins and monoclonal antibodies to treat debilitating infectious diseases. The Company is advancing multiple therapeutics targeting numerous infectious diseases. One patented and clinically tested compound, ITV-1 (Immune Therapeutic Vaccine-1), is a suspension of Inactivated Pepsin Fraction (IPF), covered by U.S. Patent Nos. 8,066,982 and 7,479,538. Studies have shown it to be effective in treating HIV/AIDS. ITV-1 has also been shown to modulate the immune system. The Company has proprietary technology for producing fully human monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against infectious diseases which is currently being employed to produce monoclonal antibody therapeutics for treating the CoronaVirus (SARS-CoV-2), HIV-1 and the Feline Leukemia virus. The Company has also identified conserved epitopes on and has plans to produce mAbs targeting many other viruses, including HIV-2, Influenza A and B, H1N1 influenza, Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), Small-Pox, Ebola Virus, Tetanus, Diphtheria, HTLV-1/2, Rabies, Herpes zoster, Varicella zoster, Anthrax, Mason-Pfizer monkey virus (MPMV) and Visna virus (VISNA). The Company has also analyzed epitopes of animal viruses and plans to produce mAbs for treating these animal viruses. Safe Harbor Statement: This news release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties associated with financial projections, budgets, milestone timelines, clinical development, regulatory approvals, and other risks described by Enzolytics, Inc. from time to time in its periodic reports filed with the SEC. ITV-1 is not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration or by any comparable regulatory agencies elsewhere in the world. While Enzolytics, Inc. believes that the forward-looking statements and underlying assumptions contained therein are reasonable, any of the assumptions could be inaccurate, including, but not limited to, the ability of Enzolytics to establish the efficacy of its therapeutics in the treatment of any disease or health condition, the development of studies and strategies leading to commercialization of its therapeutics in the United States, the obtaining of funding required to carry out the development plan, the completion of studies and tests on time or at all, and the successful outcome of such studies or tests. Therefore, there can be no assurance that the forward-looking statements included in this release will prove to be accurate. Such forward-looking statements are based on current expectations. They involve inherent risks and uncertainties, including factors that could delay, divert or change any of the statements made, and cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially from current expectations. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press release. The Company expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to update the forward-looking statements or update the reasons why actual results could differ from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Company Contact: Enzolytics, Inc. 1101 Raintree Circle Allen, Texas 75013 SOURCE: Enzolytics, Inc. View source version on accesswire.com: