RayBiotech, Inc. Antibody Arrays Help to Identify Key Pathways Involved in Leprosy Manifestation

NORCROSS, Ga., April 3, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- RayBiotech, Inc. announced today that the application of its Mouse Cytokine Antibody Array has enabled the identification of key factors involved in the dissemination of leprosy infection in humans.  This seminal research was conducted by Dr. Anura Rambukkana and colleagues at the Medical Research Council Center for Regenerative Medicine, University of Edinburgh and the Rockefeller University in New York.  In this study, Dr. Rambukkana's team employed RayBiotech's Mouse Cytokine Antibody Array C-Series 1000 to test for the presence of biologically active proteins in media conditioned by adult Schwann cells infected with Mycobacterium leprae (the causative agent of leprosy).  The application of this array allowed for the identification of key immunomodulatory factors secreted by these cells that promote bacteria-laden macrophage survival and migration, thus exacerbating M. leprae infection.

Commenting on the research, RayBiotech's President, Chief Operating Officer and Co-Founder, Rani Huang stated, "We congratulate Dr. Rambukkana's team on their findings regarding the biochemical factors aggravating leprosy infection and we are pleased to have provided multiplexing products and technologies for the efficient identification of these factors."

Dr. Rambukkana also commented, "RayBiotech's C-Series 1000 array was instrumental in identifying key soluble immune factors, not only cytokines and chemokines but also a whole range of secreted proteins, which provided compelling evidence that reprogrammed cells possess the capacity to recruit and modulate macrophages."

The research was published in the January, 2013 issue of Cell (Cell. 2013 Jan 17;152(1-2):51-67).

About RayBiotech, Inc.

In 2001 RayBiotech (http://www.raybiotech.com) introduced the first commercially available cytokine antibody array. With a focus on translating scientific knowledge into improved health, RayBiotech continues to pioneer advances in high-throughput platforms for identifying disease mechanisms, screening and validation of biomarkers and identification of drug targets.  RayBiotech products are featured in thousands of publications, including: Nature, Nature Medicine, Cell, Lancet, PNAS and many others. Offering the largest selection of protein arrays, RayBiotech has established a reputation for high quality and innovation in the research community. A spin-off from Emory University, RayBiotech is privately owned, with headquarters in metropolitan Atlanta.

SOURCE RayBiotech, Inc.