Ace Therapeutics' push-pull microdialysis technology allows you to monitor the dynamic behavior and concentration changes of antipsychotic drugs in the brain to help you better optimize drug design and use, thereby improving treatment efficacy and reducing side effects.

Introduction of Push-Pull Microdialysis in Antipsychotic Drug Development

Measuring biomolecule concentrations in the brain of living animals in real-time is a challenging task, especially when detailed information with high temporal resolution is also required. Analysis of neurochemical molecules (e.g., glutamate or acetylcholine) in brain extracellular fluid has traditionally been accomplished by microdialysis, push-pull perfusion sampling, or electrochemistry. The new miniature push-pull perfusion sampling probe allows the sampling of neurotransmitters with a reduced risk of clogging. Moreover, current studies show that push-pull perfusion can recover more serotonin compared to microdialysis.

Fig. 1 Representative images of μ-LFPS probes taken with SEM. (Cabay MR, et al., 2018)

Push-Pull Microdialysis Services

Ace Therapeutics offers push-pull microdialysis technology for the collection of macromolecules. This technique is combined with immunoassays to measure dynamic changes in peptides, proteins, and other macromolecules such as α-synuclein, Tau, and cytokines. Microdialysis probes with large cut-off molecular weights require special procedures to equalize the pressure on the probe membrane for dialysis. We have successfully utilized several probes to recover extracellular macromolecules. Our improved push-pull microdialysis method has been validated in vivo in a mouse model, allowing assessment of dynamic changes in cerebrospinal fluid Aβ and tau and allowing a better understanding of cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers.

Measurable Molecules

To recover larger molecules, our push-pull microdialysis uses larger pore sizes in the dialysis membrane. Compared to conventional dialysis, push-pull dialysis can measure larger endogenous proteins, inflammatory mediators, peptides, and exogenous antibodies.

The large molecules we can measure include, but are not limited to

• Alpha-synuclein
• β-amyloid
• Antibodies
• Tau
• Cytokines

Advantages of Our Technology

• Flexibility: Our push-pull microdialysis technology allows you the flexibility to select the analysis area to suit your needs, so it can be optimized and customized for different research questions.
• Signal stability: Our push-pull microdialysis technology allows for more stable signals by adjusting factors such as catheter position and speed.
• High accuracy of metabolite measurement: Our push-pull microdialysis technology allows for more accurate metabolite concentration detection data by continuous multiple sampling.

Our Microdialysis Multi-probe Technology in Antipsychotics Discovery

• Pharmacokinetic studies: Our push-pull microdialysis technique allows us to monitor the concentration changes of drugs in the brain, which allows us to understand the metabolic rate, metabolites, and clearance rate of drugs in the brain.
• Pharmacodynamic studies: Our push-pull microdialysis technology allows us to measure the concentration changes of drugs in target brain regions and correlate them with behavioral responses, thus allowing us to understand the pharmacodynamic properties of drugs.
• Drug transport studies: Our push-pull microdialysis technology allows us to study the process of drug crossing the blood-brain barrier, which can help optimize drug transport and targeting.
• Drug safety assessment: Our push-pull microdialysis technology allows us to examine drug distribution, metabolism, and clearance information in the brain, allowing us to assess the safety and risk of drugs.

Ace Therapeutics' push-pull microdialysis technology has the advantages of easy operation, stable signal, wide applicability, and accurate data acquisition, and its application in the development of antipsychotic drugs has a wide range of prospects. If you are interested in this service, please make an inquiry to learn how we can support you in your project.

Reference

1. Cabay MR, et al. Development of μ-Low-Flow-Push-Pull Perfusion Probes for Ex Vivo Sampling from Mouse Hippocampal Tissue Slices. ACS Chem Neurosci. 2018, 9(2):252-259.