Cellular regulatory circuits typically exploit rapid, dynamic interactions among protein molecules. Yet much of the scientific community’s understanding of biology is based on visualization tools that provide static snapshots of a moment in time.
Eikon has developed proprietary, purpose-built platforms that permit precise characterization of protein interactions in living cells with exceptional spatial and temporal resolution. These tools provide a means of examining fleeting but essential interactions among individual protein molecules in living cells. We believe this knowledge will enable the discovery of innovative treatments that will improve and extend life.
The invention of fluorescence microscopy made it possible for scientists to visualize cell biology, but until recently, discoveries were limited by the wavelength of light. Nobel prize-winning super-resolution fluorescence microscopy — the foundation of Eikon’s platform — is a disruptive advancement that enables scientists to visualize individual proteins.
Eikon uses proprietary, purpose-built microscopes coupled with robotic cell manipulation systems and high-performance computing to visualize the movement of selected proteins in living cells.(ref) We fluorescently label an endogenous protein target and image individual proteins with 10 nm spatial resolution and 10 millisecond time resolution.
Each time series reveals quantifiable, multi-dimensional characterization of protein dynamics, including the trajectory of each protein and its characteristic jump length, angular movements, on-rates/off-rates as well as residence times for binding events. We extract these data using proprietary software packages, purpose-built for scale and utilization in drug discovery.
The power of Eikon's platform is its scale. We have engineered a fully automated system that can run thousands of SMT assays and process the resulting data each day, enabling high throughput screening of SMT biology. Our automated systems reach beyond SMT and are applied broadly across the drug discovery process.
