EpiCypher^® launches K-AcylStat™ SNAP-ChIP^® spike-in panels and certified antibodies, expanding the application of SNAP-ChIP^® technology

Research Triangle Park, NC – 16 May 2019 – EpiCypher, Inc. announces the availability of the K-AcylStat SNAP-ChIP spike-in panel, increasing the diversity of histone post-translational modifications (PTMs) accessible via EpiCypher’s proprietary SNAP-ChIP technology and providing unparalleled flexibility in controlling ChIP experiments.

SNAP-ChIP uses DNA-barcoded recombinant designer nucleosomes (dNucs), which replicate endogenous nucleosomes, as spike-in controls to profile antibody specificity and binding efficiency in ChIP. EpiCypher’s 2018 Molecular Cell paper (Shah et al. 2018, 72:162-177) demonstrated the superior capabilities of SNAP-ChIP in determining antibody discrimination, compared to the industry-wide standard histone peptide arrays. This paper also revealed that nearly 80% of commercial antibodies fail to specifically recognize the desired PTM in a nucleosome context.

EpiCypher’s initial SNAP-ChIP spike-in panels focused on histone lysine methylation (K-MetStat) and oncogenic histone mutations (OncoStat). The new K-AcylStat panel enables the application of SNAP-ChIP to a diverse set of histone lysine acylation PTMs, and includes 22 dNucs carrying distinct acetyl, crotonyl, and butyryl PTMs, as well as an unmodified nucleosome control. In total, EpiCypher’s SNAP-ChIP panels represent more than 45 PTMs and histone variants, providing access to the most widely studied and biologically relevant histone PTMs in the field.

To further address the ongoing crisis of histone PTM antibody specificity, EpiCypher has leveraged the K-AcylStat SNAP-ChIP panel to identify and launch a new line of SNAP-ChIP certified antibodies, targeting many common lysine-acyl PTMs, including H3K9ac. Using K-AcylStat, EpiCypher is able to identify superlative reagents for studying these modifications using ChIP.

“The release of the K-AcylStat spike in panel and corresponding SNAP-ChIP certified antibodies provides consistent and reliable reagents for the field, which will improve the quality of chromatin research,” said Dr. Michael-Christopher Keogh, Chief Scientific Officer at EpiCypher.

About EpiCypher – A pioneer in the field of epigenetics and chromatin biology, EpiCypher^® is a biotechnology company developing transformative technologies to researchers and drug developers worldwide. EpiCypher manufactures and sells a series of products and assay platforms that use recombinant “designer” modified nucleosomes (dNucs), including the SNAP-ChIP^® product family for quantitative ChIP applications and the EpiDyne^® product family for nucleosome remodeling assays, as well as recombinant histone binding proteins and enzymes, peptides and antibodies, and offers a broad range of custom substrate manufacturing and assay development services.