Invitrogen Exclusively Licenses Click Chemistry-based Cell Proliferation Assays from Harvard University

Invitrogen Corporation has announced the exclusive license of cell proliferation assays based on click chemistry from Harvard University. The license enhances Invitrogen's growing portfolio of intellectual property surrounding click chemistry, originally developed by Nobel Laureate K. Barry Sharpless' laboratory at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, CA.

Click-iT™ labeling and detection technology uses a catalyst to "click" together chemical groups not normally found in biology. For example, the Click-iT™ EdU kit, based on the technology invented by Drs. Adrian Salic and Tim Mitchison at the Harvard Medical School Department of Systems Biology and licensed from Harvard, uses EdU, a modified nucleic acid subunit that can be taken up by actively dividing cells and incorporated into newly synthesized DNA.

A fluorescent small molecule tag can then be snapped onto the EdU-labeled DNA to mark proliferating cells. This click reaction is extremely specific and efficient, and Click-iT™ tagged molecules retain biological function and are easily detected at extremely low levels in complex samples. Click-iT™ chemistry is suitable for multiple applications, including flow cytometry, fluorescence microscopy and high content screening.

"Click chemistry permits the labeling and detection of biological events that were previously impossible using standard methods," said Augie Sick, Vice President and General Manager of Invitrogen's Cellular Analysis Business Unit.

"That's why we are pleased to have acquired Harvard's technology, which represents a significant advancement over conventional techniques and augments the power of our click chemistry. This advancement allows researchers to examine cell proliferation in parallel with other biomarkers thus enhancing the power of this fundamental method for assessing cell health, determining genotoxicity and evaluating anti-cancer drugs."