posted 09-13-2011 05:57 PM            

---

Capital Biosciences Inc. (CBI) is pleased to announce a new testing service for the analysis of telomere maintenance in biological samples. A major aspect of the service is based upon a patented assay for specific C-circle DNA, a quantitative biomarker for ALT (Alternative Lengthening of Telomeres) [Henson, Reddel, et al. Nature Biotechnology. 2009; 27:1181-5]. The ALT assay was developed by Children's Medical Research Institute (CMRI) in Australia, and is provided under license to CBI for research-use-only. The license agreement was facilitated by Bio-Link Australia Pty Ltd. In addition to the ALT assay, CBI aims to soon introduce an expanded range of products and services for the analysis of telomere maintenance mechanisms, including both ALT and telomerase activity.
Telomere length in some cells is maintained by ALT, an alternative mechanism which is not dependent on telomerase activity. Overall 10-15% of cancers rely on the ALT mechanism for continuous growth and survival. The prevalence of ALT ranges from 25% to 60% in sarcomas and 5% to 15% in carcinomas.

The current format of the ALT assay is technically challenging and requires the use of a radioactive probe to achieve sufficient levels of sensitivity. This requires highly experienced technicians and dedicated laboratory facilities for handling radioisotopes. Thus for many labs, the most time- and cost-efficient means of accessing high-quality ALT analysis is through CBI's custom services menu. For ALT testing, CBI customers may send tumor samples, cell lines, or total genomic DNA. Centralized testing through CBI ensures immediate, accurate, and reliable analysis of ALT as an increasingly well-recognized and important mechanism for cancer cell survival.

IP: 207.188.251.117

All times are ET (US)