Resonant Acoustic Profiling (RAP™) and Rupture Event Scanning (REVS™)

Following the release of widely available commercial instruments in the 1990s, researchers have driven the development of biosensor-based methods for profiling and screening of small molecule and proteinaceous therapeutic drug candidates. Medicinal chemists have in turn demanded faster and more accurate assays for characterisation of drug candidate interactions with target receptors, serum proteins and side-effect profiling receptors. In response to this challenge, Akubio Ltd. (Cambridge, UK) has been developing an advanced label-free detection platform, resonant acoustic profiling (RAP™). This evolution of the basic QCM approach has the potential to change the way assays are performed and to generate novel information on molecular interactions. Key attributes covered in this chapter include the ability to multiplex to high numbers of resonators, the addition of robust interfacial surface chemistries, fully automated sample handling and sample processing, disposable microfluidic cassettes with submicrolitre dead volumes, and more sensitive detection electronics.