Conducting Novel Therapeutics Research of Human Gliomas with Jess

UNDERSTANDING THE BRAIN AND GLIOMAS AT BRIMS

Dr. Muhumad Kamarudin is a research fellow at the Brain Research Institute Monash Sunway (BRIMS), an internationally recognized neuroscience institution based at Monash University and led by one of the world’s leading comparative neuroscientists, Professor Ishwar Parhar. BRIMS is intensively investigating neurological cancers including their underlying mechanisms and the complexity of the tumor microenvironment as well as causes and possible treatments of addiction, depression, dementia, and autism.

Outside the lab, Muhamad conducts an orchestra. Inside the lab, Muhumad conducts research to find new therapeutic targets in gliomas, a type of tumor that occurs in the brain and spine. He works with a wide variety of protein classes and therefore needs a flexible, reproducible way to characterize his proteins. Furthermore, human gliomas and other sample types Muhumad works with are precious, so he needs as much data as possible from each sample. As a result, Jess, which automates traditional Western blotting, has become an instrumental part of his research by offering reproducibility, preserving his precious samples, and providing flexibility in the diverse proteins that he can measure with his Simple Western™ assays.

AUTOMATING PROTEIN ANALYSIS WITH JESS

“Conventional Western blot always faces problems with high background and complexity of optimizing for different types of target proteins/antibodies. Moreover, preparation of various reagents, buffers, and samples is time-consuming,” Muhumad explains. Looking for a streamlined solution, Muhumad turned to Jess to automate the separation and immunodetection of his targets, which gave him higher throughput and efficiency. “Jess allows me to reduce the preparation time, save on reagents, samples, and antibodies, while allowing easier optimization of target proteins/antibodies.” And with its automated protein analysis, Jess continues to work in the lab even when Muhumad is at orchestra rehearsal.

FOCUSING ON MULTIPLE TARGETS AT ONCE

Another advantage of Jess is superplexing to detect multiple proteins simultaneously, which “further saves time compared to conventional Western blotting.” Plus, according to Muhumad, Jess’s high sensitivity and elimination of the transfer step of traditional westerns means that “certain low or high molecular weight proteins or protein with low abundance can be detected using Jess.” Muhumad won his own fight against cancer and likes to inspire others. His satisfaction with Simple Western assays has inspired him to recommend Simple Western assays to his peers.