EMD Millipore has obtained rights to a technique for protein research from Cleveland Clinic. The new method is intended to reduce the time required for staining tissue sections from 12 hours to 30 minutes.
The technique was developed using Millipore's SNAP i.d.® Protein Detection System. Scientists at Millipore and Cleveland Clinic are in the process of validating the method for diverse tissue types and fixation protocols.
“By reducing tissue analysis time to minutes, the SNAP i.d. system can increase research throughput and speed up protocol optimization, enabling researchers to make faster decisions about their results,” comments Don O’Neil, director of product management at Millipore.
The SNAP i.d. system from Millipore uses vacuum to actively drive reagents through membrane-fixed tissue sections. This reportedly increases exposure of tissue antigens to blocking reagents, antibodies, and wash buffers. Traditional tissue staining involves mounting sections on glass slides and relies on diffusion for reagent permeation through the sections.
EMD Millipore was born out of Merck KGaA’s $7 billion acquisition of Millipore. It was announced in March and completed in July. EMD Millipore is the life science division, combing Merck’s EMD Chemicals business in New Jersey with Millipore. It is known as Merck Millipore outside the U.S. and Canada.