Using semiconductor chip and Time Domain Sequencing technologies, researchers from Quantum-Si have published an article in Science that illustrates how single-molecule protein sequencing will change biomedical and life science research.
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Quantum-Si
Developed by Dr. Jonathan Rothberg, a renowned scientist, entrepreneur, and recipient of the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, Quantum Si's next-generation single-molecule protein sequencing technology was created to improve and expand protein research and the diagnosis of modern diseases.
This ground-breaking sequencing procedure, which offers an unmatched understanding of proteins, will advance drug discovery and diagnostics and provide the world with revolutionary new knowledge about health and disease.
The first next-generation single-molecule protein sequencing technology, according to Rothberg, is something he is proud of and eager to share with the world. He said that he fully expects the early adopters of Quantum-technology Si's to make discoveries that are just as significant and profound, just as the work he did with his first genomics collaborators on DNA sequencing resulted in a Nobel Prize for Svante Pääbo.
Time Domain Sequencing
The Time Domain Sequencing technology removes the dependency on color as an identification method, which is a hurdle for any application outside of genomics where only four colors are needed.
The platform makes use of semiconductor technologies, biology, and chemistry to enable you to see things that others are unable to. Its semiconductor chip generates sequencing across millions of independent wells at a resolution of one amino acid per molecule.
Sequencing Process for Drug Discovery and Diagnostics Advancement
The semiconductor chip used by Quantum-Si has millions of wells. It enables the parallel cataloging of numerous proteins and the understanding of single-molecule modifications to these proteins.
The company's next-generation sequencing system uses proteins and enzymes derived from naturally occurring pathways that perform a related function in cells to find and cleave amino acids. This method gets rid of the difficulties that other technologies face due to complicated chemistry and bulky, expensive equipment while supplying the sensitivity, scalability, and accessibility required to speed up biomedical research.
Brian D. Reed, Ph.D., co-author of the study and Head of Research at Quantum-Si, said that it was previously unthinkable for a small benchtop instrument to perform massively parallel sequencing of individual protein molecules.
Tool for Understanding Protein Function and Regulation
In order to understand proteins, scientists have relied on indirect methods. They have been waiting for tools that would revolutionize proteomics, much like DNA sequencing did for genomics. Our understanding of how proteins function and are regulated in health and disease will significantly advance thanks to the platform's ability to map protein modifications, which have been challenging to detect with other technologies.
According to Phys.org, the single-molecule protein sequencing method used by Quantum-Si also includes various points. One of these details relates to the dynamic approach whereby single peptides are simultaneously cleaved by aminopeptidases and probed in real-time by a variety of dye-labeled N-terminal amino acid recognizers.
Other things to remember are the annotation of amino acids and the identification of the peptide sequence. This is done by measuring fluorescence intensity, lifetime, and binding kinetics on an integrated semiconductor chip.
Additional information also includes the recognizers distinguishing between single amino acid substitutions and post-translational modifications by identifying multiple amino acids in an information-rich way (PTMs). It is for the purpose of identifying and preventing diseases in the future, which enables a more thorough picture of specific proteins and their variations.
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