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Company Profile
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LifeSensors is a biotechnology company located in Great Valley Corporate Center, a biotech hub 35 miles west of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. Founded in 1996, the company develops and licenses innovative protein expression technologies enabling the efficient translation of the genome into the proteome.
LifeSensors is known for its innovations in an important family of proteins consisting of ubiquitin and ubiquitin-like proteins (UBL) such as SUMO (Small Ubiquitin-like MOdifier), marketing a series of ubiquitin pathway products, e.g., de-ubiquitinases, ubiquitin ligases.
LifeSensors holds several patents covering the use of SUMO and other UBLs as gene fusion tags to improve protein expression and purification and has filed for or licensed patents for novel assay technologies for de-ubiquitinases and ubiquitin ligases. LifeSensors helps client companies to improve the quality and quantity of their protein production and has expanded its production capabilities to assist customers and partners.
LifeSensors has leveraged its active protein production capabilities to develop Functional Protein Arrays and is proud to introduce first-in-class human de-ubiquitinase arrays (DUB Array). These protein arrays are used for drug discovery and diagnostics markets.
COMPANY HISTORY
March 2012LifeSensors is Awarded Patent for Human SUMO-3 for Enhancing Protein Expression by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The patent covers use of human SUMO-3 as a fusion partner to enhance the expression, solubility and stability of heterologous proteins As the market for Biosimilars continues to grow, LifeSensors' protein expression systems based on SUMO fusions will create new opportunities to improve yield and bioactivity of biosimilars while reducing costs inherent in other production schemes.
LifeSensors Announces the Addition of Biotin-K63 TUBE 1 to their extensive line of TUBEs. The New Biotin-k63 TUBE 1 is more sensitive and cost-effective for the detection of K63-linked polyubiquitinated proteins compared to traditional Western Blot chain-specific antibodies and can be used for ligand blotting, affinity purification from lysates & biological fluids, and in situ detection.
October 2011
LifeSensors announces new inhibitors of Ub/Ubl Conjugating Enzymes, the Proteasome, P97, and DUBs. The most commonly used laboratory inhibitors – lactacystin and MG-132 - are now available in the LifeSensors catalog.
July 2011
LifeSensors develops the anti-ubiquitin antibody VU-1 for multiple applications. The VU-1 antibody reacts with mono- and polyubiquitinated proteins in Western blot analysis and is an excellent reagent for the identification of ubiquitinated proteins in cells and tissue sections (IHC/IF). LifeSensors also announces UbiQuant™, as the first sandwich ELISA kit that captures total ubiquitin (mono- and poly-ubiquitinated conjugates) in biological samples.
June 2010
LifeSensors launches Diubiquitin Substrate, A Novel Fluorescent Assay for Ubiquitin Isopeptide Bond Cleavage. These substrates utilize ubiquitin molecules linked by true isopeptide bonds, making them more physiologically relevant than previous substrates. These DiUbiquitins represent a new class of substrates for measuring cleavage of an isopeptide bond in a homogeneous and continuous assay platform. They can be used for standard biochemical (kinetic) assays and have also been validated for high throughput screening in 96- and 384 well plates.
October 2009
LifeSensors launches ubiquitin ligase kits. Ubiquitin ligases, the largest family of proteins in humans, conjugate ubiquitin to the ligase target proteins. Ligases are highly attractive drug targets for a variety of diseases. LifeSensors’s ligase kits enable a user to assay any protein for ubiquitin conjugating activity or to assay the acceptor protein (ligase substrate). The modular nature of the kits allows one to select from various ubiquitin conjugating enzymes (E2s) as well as ubiquitin ligases (E3s). The modular assay is adaptable to small scale or large scale HTS.
June 2009
LifeSensors licenses technology from Progenra,Inc. to launch their first ever Ubiquitin Pathway Enzyme Assay Kits and CHOP2 Reporter Assay Kits for deubiquitinases (DUBs). The CHOP reporter platform is superior to traditional off-the-shelf assay technologies and provides sensitive, rapid, and robust, fluorescent readouts of enzymatic activity in 30 mins with minimal interference from screening compounds. The assay platforms will aid in the identification and further characterization of the approximately 100 DUBs and 700 ligases in the human genome and play a major role in drug discovery and diagnostics.
September 2009
LifeSensors launches UBIQUITIN TUBEs to identify, purify, and characterize poly-ubiquitinated proteins. Nearly all cellular proteins are ubiquitinated at one time or other. Usually, ubiquitinated proteins are identified by immunoprecipition with antibodies against ubiquitin. Because ubiquitin is highly conserved, it does not elicit high affinity or immunoprecipitating antibodies. This problem has been solved by the development of poly-ubiquitin binding TUBEs that bind to poly-ubiquitins with nanomolar affinity, affording quantitative precipitation. LifeSensors has licensed this novel technology from bioGUNE in Spain.
May 2008
LifeSensors launches a number of De-ubiquitinases and other ubiquitin and ubiquitin-like protein enzymes, as well as a novel assay platform for De-ubiquitinases and UBL isopeptidases, including De-SUMOlyases, De-NEDDylases, and De-ISGinylases.
November 2007
LifeSensors files novel SUMOstar protein expression patent applications worldwide for production of proteins in yeast, insect and mammalian cells, and launches related products.
2006
LifeSensors’s SUMO technologies for protein production are disseminated worldwide by the publication of new data (see publications).
LifeSensors is granted patent in gender sorting technologies by US patent and trademark offices in August, 2006. The estrogen receptor-based sensor is used to sort poultry eggs. This first-of-its-kind technology improves poultry management, increases production and reduces cost.
2005
LifeSensors enters a licensing agreement with Progenra Inc, a ubiquitin drug discovery company, to launch Progenra technologies for research and consumer markets.
2004
LifeSensors files three patent applications covering novel gene-fusion tags. This series of patents further strengthens the company's position in the development of tools for the therapeutic and structural/functional genomics markets.
June 2003
LifeSensors files a patent application for Split-SUMO technology for the enhancement of protein expression and purification in prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells.
January 2000
LifeSensors signs a multi-year agreement with Embrex, Inc. (now part of Pfizer Animal Health) to develop estrogen receptor-based sensors for the poultry gender sorting market.
The Company files a patent application for protein expression and purification technology using ubiquitin-like proteins as expression enhancers and purification tags.
2000
LifeSensors receives several small business innovation research (SBIR) awards from the National Cancer Institute and NIH, NIEHS, and NASA to develop LiveSensors™ and protein expression technologies.
August 1998
LifeSensors Inc. receives an emerging company investment fund award from Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania.
April 1998
Protein Expression Services launched. The Company is relocated to state-of-the-art facilities in the Great Valley Corporate Center in Malvern, PA, a western suburb of Philadelphia.
December 1996
The Company establishes a multi-year research collaboration agreement with Rohm and Haas Company.
July 1996
LifeSensors is founded by Dr. Tauseef Butt following 14 year tenure at SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceutical R&D (GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals).
