Streamline Protein Screening with the Power of Protein Barcodes and Next-Generation Protein Sequencing™

Characterize multiple protein variants simultaneously using protein barcodes on Platinum.®

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Applications Protein Barcoding

Why is Protein Barcoding with Next-Gen Protein Sequencing™ a Game-Changer?

NGPS

Characterizing proteins and their isoforms is critical for advancing biological research and drug discovery, yet traditional methods are often slow, labor-intensive, and limit throughput, creating bottlenecks in the process. Protein barcoding — combined with Quantum-Si’s Next-Generation Protein Sequencing (NGPS) platform — offers a transformative solution by enabling multiplexed protein variant screening and characterization with significantly faster assay speeds and enhanced throughput.

Barcoding streamlines protein characterization of protein trafficking, protein-protein interactions, and other variant properties generated through directed evolution or CRISPR techniques. In drug discovery, protein barcoding empowers researchers to efficiently screen delivery vehicles like lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) and adeno-associated virus (AAV) capsids in vivo. This enables a simplifed yet highly precise readout of delivery and translation efficiency, dramatically improving the precision, speed, and effectiveness of discovery and development programs.

NGPS enables you to:

  • Image 1 Multiplex target expression in both in vivo and in vitro settings, saving cost and time
  • Image 2 Accelerate drug delivery development with LNPs and AAVs
  • Image 3 Pinpoint specific locations that affect protein-protein interaction
  • Image 4 Screen protein variations generated through CRISPR and directed evolution
  • Image 5 Track localization, secretion, and trafficking of barcode-labeled proteins in a model system

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Check out how protein barcode libraries are expanding the field of proteomics.

  • Protein Barcodes for Next-Generation Protein Sequencing™ — APP NOTE

    Discover the power of protein barcoding with Quantum-Si’s Next-Generation Protein Sequencing™ on the Platinum® instrument. This innovative technology combines the accessibility of DNA-based methods with the versatility of protein barcoding. By attaching peptides to macromolecular linkers and employing dye-labeled recognizers and aminopeptidases, researchers can generate distinct kinetic signatures for each peptide, enabling high-confidence sequence alignment. Explore our application note for criteria on peptide barcode design, library generation methods, and practical examples of how peptide barcodes revolutionize protein screening, including a 300-fold enrichment in nanobody abundance after positive selection using protein barcodes.

    Download the Application Note

  • Overcoming the RNA Therapeutics Delivery Challenge — CASE STUDY

    Explore this case study to learn how researchers are using the protein barcoding application on Platinum® to accelerate development of novel gene therapies with improved targeting capabilities. With protein barcoding you can:

    • Accelerate the screening and optimization of lipid nanoparticle (LNP) delivery vehicles for targeted gene therapies.
    • Precisely track LNP delivery to specific tissues, enhancing precision and efficiency.
    • Utilize a cost-effective method as an accessible alternative to mass spectrometry for in vivo delivery studies.

    Download the Case Study

  • Protein Barcodes and Next-Generation Protein Sequencing™ — BLOG

    Brian Reed, PhD, Head of Research, discusses how protein barcodes with single-molecule resolution has the potential to transform research and drug discovery in a manner like that of DNA-based barcodes and next-generation DNA sequencing (NGS). Discover the many applications of this advancement in Next-Generation Protein Sequencing™, including:

    • Unveiling protein trafficking patterns to elucidate disease mechanisms.
    • Investigating protein-protein interactions via variant panels and high-throughput assays.
    • Protein characterization in mRNA medicine for identification of highly expressed variants.

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  • Use of Protein Barcodes & Next Generation Protein Sequencing™ 
for High-Throughput Mapping of Protein Conformations & Their Phenotypic Effects — CASE STUDY

    Explore the case study to understand how combining next-generation protein sequencing with protein barcoding facilitates high-throughput mapping of protein conformations and phenotypic effects, without the limitations of traditional methods. With protein barcoding, you can:

    • Conveniently screen hundreds of variants using protein barcoding in your protein expression system
    • Utilize the diversity of protein barcodes to screen proteins with diverse characteristics
    • Expand your research and uncover innovative strategies for preventing and treating various diseases

    Download the Case Study

  • Accelerate Protein Screening by Sequencing Protein Barcodes on Platinum® — WEBINAR
    Joel McDade, PhD, Bonnie Lun, PhD June 13, 2024

    Screening protein variants of interest is an essential step when studying mechanism of disease or developing novel biotherapeutics. Current screening methods require either back-to-back design-build-test cycles or large arrayed screens using automation, which can lead to lengthy assay timelines, technical challenges, unwanted variability and unnecessary cost. Furthermore, traditional phage-display or yeast-display methods may not be optimal for certain proteins of interest due to size or structure of the proteins. Pooled screening can circumvent many of these limitations, but de facto standard DNA-based barcodes cannot be used to screen for certain phenotypes. As such, there is significant interest in the use of protein barcodes to screen protein variants.

    Quantum-Si has recently developed a scalable method for using protein barcodes to identify specific proteins with desirable characteristics by sequencing highly distinguishable peptides on the benchtop protein sequencing platform, Platinum®. Briefly, unique peptides are associated with each protein and cleaved from the protein after enrichment and selection for the proteins of interest. The peptides are then functionalized and immobilized on a semiconductor chip and sequenced by Platinum with single amino acid resolution.

    This webinar will review the current state of protein screening approaches, introduce the Platinum protein sequencing workflow and highlight how this technology can simplify and accelerate a variety of screening workflows through the use of highly distinguishable protein barcodes.

    Key Learning Points/Takeaways:

    • Review of Quantum-Si’s Platinum protein sequencing technology
    • Introduction to protein barcoding on Platinum
    • How protein barcoding simplifies and accelerates protein screening across a wide variety of applications

    Speakers: Joel McDade, PhD, Bonnie Lun, PhD

    Date: June 13, 2024

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  • Protein Barcodes for Next-Generation Protein Sequencing™ — VIDEO
    The State of Omics | 2024

    Katherine Johnson, Senior Director of Product, discusses how the Platinum® Next-Generation Protein Sequencer™ can not only directly sequence proteins with single amino acid resolution but can screen for hundreds of variants using protein barcoding. This combination of single-molecule sequencing and protein barcodes promises ground breaking insights into disease prevention and treatment strategies previously challenging with traditional methods.

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  • Quantum-Si’s Next-Generation Protein Sequencer™ Enables Protein Detection and Peptide Characterization -POSTER
    US HUPO | 2024

    Sequencing proteins and correlating amino acid changes to biological function is critical to advancing our understanding of human health and disease. Next-Generation Protein Sequencing™ (NGPS) on Platinum® enables researchers to identify and characterize proteins with single-molecule resolution in a simple workflow and on a benchtop instrument. To demonstrate the versatility of Platinum and the use of Kinetic Signatures, we sequenced various types of samples, including recombinant proteins, protein mixtures, immunoprecipitated proteins, peptide barcodes, and peptides with Post Translational Modifications (PTMs).

    Furthermore, we showcased the detection of peptide barcodes along with the utilization of barcoding techniques to streamline protein engineering applications.

    Recent product enhancements to the platform include new sequencing kit and chip chemistry as well as advanced analytical software tools. These enhancements unlock new applications such as the use of protein inference to study unknown protein samples.

    Download Poster

  • Next-Generation Protein Sequencing™ Platform: Advances in Protein Identification & Characterization — WEBINAR
    Dr Danielle Tullman-Ercek, Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Northwestern University and Katherine Johnson, Senior Director, Product, QSI October 6, 2023

    In this expert led webinar, Dr Danielle Tullman-Ercek, Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the Northwestern University, and Katherine Johnson, Senior Director, Product, at Quantum-Si, Inc will discuss a novel next-generation protein sequencing™ platform, Platinum®, and how it can complement immunoassays and other proteomic workflows by providing deeper insights into proteins. Learn how this next-generation protein sequencing™ technology works and what applications can be performed using this novel technology. Additionally, Dr. Tullman-Ercek will illustrate how protein identification on Platinum was utilized in her research to provide additional information about proteins typically studied via conventional western blot and mass spectrometry techniques. She will demonstrate how next-generation protein sequencing™ provides additional information about proteins, comparing results from conventional techniques to those obtained from next-generation protein sequencing™.

    Key learning objectives

    • Learn about Next-Generation Protein Sequencing, how it works and key benefits
    • Explore how it compares to and complements conventional proteomic techniques such as mass spectrometry and immunoassays
    • Explore the applications that can be performed with Platinum next-generation sequencing technology
    • Discover how Platinum is utilized to complement data obtained from conventional protein identification techniques to provide deeper insights into proteins

    Speakers: Dr Danielle Tullman-Ercek, Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Northwestern University and Katherine Johnson, Senior Director, Product, QSI Date: October 6, 2023

    Watch Now