Pierce Biotechnology Inc has been issued a new United States Patent (No. 6,432,662; "Assay of Peroxidase Activity") covering methods associated with its proprietary nonradioactive SuperSignal Chemiluminescent Substrates.

Ready-to-use SuperSignal Substrates, which are designed for use with horseradish peroxidase-labeled (HRP) reporter molecules immobilized on membranes or on microplates, emit an intense, long duration signal when they come into contact with antigen during Western, Southern or Northern blotting or enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays.

Many scientists prefer SuperSignal Substrates because they require less antibody, cost less than competing products, provide longer signal and deliver unsurpassed sensitivity, allowing researchers to view results that go undetected with other chemiluminescent substrates. Scientists can choose from three SuperSignal Substrates for Western Blotting and two SuperSignal Substrates for ELISA applications, providing them with flexibility regarding detection method, sensitivity levels and signal duration. Pierce sells SuperSignal Substrates individually and incorporates them as key components in many Pierce assay development and blotting kits, including new SearchLight Proteome Array products that represent a powerful platform for the simultaneous quantitative measurement of 16 or more proteins in biological samples.

Pierce Biotechnology''s patent portfolio now includes more than 20 granted and 18 pending patents for its bioresearch products used by life science researchers throughout the world.