Assessment for Decision Making

Banyan Biomarkers, Inc. offers preclinical and clinical sample analyses with a proven panel of neurological, psychiatric, neurodegenerative disease and organ toxicity biomarker assays. The company provides analytical services to a wide range of customers including pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology companies and investigators at academic research institutes.

Banyan's biomarker assay services assist customers by:

• Demonstrating proof-of-principal target inhibition in animal models
• Optimizing dose regimens to obtain maximal target inhibition
• Providing critical data for 'go-no-go' decisions
• Enhancing drug development from phase I - phase III clinical trials

Neurotoxicity /Neuroinjury UCH-L1 , αII-spectrin breakdown products
(SBDP145, SBDP120,MAP-2),  MBP*, S100β*, NSE* and GFAP*
(Ref. 1,2,3)

Traumatic brain injury and stroke
SBDP145, SBDP120, UCH-L1, MAP-2, GFAP*
(Ref. 3, 4, 5)

Neurodegenerative diseases
SBDP145, SBDP120
(Ref. 6)

Neurological disorders
MBP*, S100β*, NSE*, and GFAP*
(Ref. 7, 8)

Psychiatric disorders
(Schizophrenia; METH & Ecstasy abuse) S100β*, SBDP145, SBDP120
(Ref. 9, 10)

Neuroinflammation /microglial activation
(Brain injury and Alzheimer's disease) IL-6*
(Ref. 11, 12)

Apoptosis
(Caspase) SBDP120
(Ref. 13)

Necrosis
(Calpain) SBDP145
(Ref. 13)

Liver injury / hepatoxicity
(Argininosuccinate synthase) ASS
(Ref. 14)
*nonproprietary biomarkers
Banyan Biomarkers regularly adds to its portfolio of biomarker assays. Please contact the company for updates.

• Controlled cortical impact (CCI) model of acute brain injury in rats or mice to assess drug efficacy
• Overpressure induced brain injury in rodent models
• Assessment of behavior and functional endpoints using beam walking and rotorod tests
• Primary neuronal culture models of neuroinjury or neurotoxicity
  » Cerebrocortical cultures
  » Cerebellum granule neurons
  » Hippocampal neurons
• Monitoring of biomarker levels in tissue using Western Blots
  » Calpains
  » Caspases
  » Cathepsin B
  » Proteasome
• Protease enzyme assays
• Cell-based protease assays
  » Calpains
  » Caspases

1. Baydas G, Tuzcu M. (2005) Protective effects of melatonin against ethanol-induced reactive gliosis in hippocampus and cortex of young and aged rats. Exp. Neurol. 194(1):175-81
2. Woehrling EK, Hill EJ, Coleman MD.(2007) Development of a neurotoxicity test-system, using post-mitotic, astrocytic and neuronal cell lines in co-culture. Toxicol In Vitro. 21(7):1241-6.
3. Banyan Biomarkers, Inc. unpublished data.
4. Ringger, N.C., Tolentino, P.J., McKinsey, D.M., Pike, B.R., Wang, K.K.W. and Hayes, R.L. (2004) Effects of injury severity on regional and temporal mRNA expression levels of calpains and caspases after TBI. J. Neurotrauma, 21, 829-841.
5. Pineda, J., Liu, M.C., Aikman, J., Akle, V., . Lewis, S., Wang, K.K.W., Robertson, C., Hayes, R.L. (2007) Clinical significance of ?II-Spectrin Breakdown Products in CSF after Severe Traumatic Brain Injury in Human. J. Neurotrauma; 24, 354 -366.
6. Chong ZZ, Li F, Maiese K. (2005) Stress in the brain: novel cellular mechanisms of injury linked to Alzheimer's disease. Brain Res Brain Res Rev. 49(1):1-21.
7. Lamers KJ, Vos P, Verbeek MM, Rosmalen F, van Geel WJ, van Engelen BG. (2003) Protein S-100B, neuron-specific enolase (NSE), myelin basic protein (MBP) and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and blood of neurological patients. Brain Res Bull. 61(3):261-4.
8. Beems T, Simons KS, Van Geel WJ, De Reus HP, Vos PE, Verbeek MM. (2003) Serum and CSF concentrations of brain specific proteins in hydrocephalus. Acta Neurochir (Wien) 145(1):37-43.
9. Steiner J, Bielau H, Bernstein HG, Bogerts B, Wunderlich MT. (2006) Increased cerebrospinal fluid and serum levels of S100B in first-onset schizophrenia are not related to a degenerative release of glial fibrillar acidic protein, myelin basic protein and neuron-specific enolase from glia or neurones. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 77(11):1284-7.
10. Warren, M.W., Kobeissy, F.H., Liu, M.C., Hayes, R.L., Gold, M.S., Wang, K.K.W (2006) Ecstasy Toxicity: A Comparison to Methamphetamine and Traumatic Brain Injury. J. Addict Disease, 25(4):115-123.
11. Cacquevel M, Lebeurrier N, Chéenne S, Vivien D. (2004) Cytokines in neuroinflammation and Alzheimer's disease. Curr Drug Targets. 5(6):529-34.
12. Morganti-Kossmann MC, Satgunaseelan L, Bye N, Kossmann T. (2007) Modulation of immune response by head injury. Injury. 38(12):1392-400.
13. Wang, K.K.W. (2000) Calpain and Caspase: Can You Tell the Difference? Trends Neurosci. 23, 20-26.
14. Svetlov, S.I., Xia-ng, Y.W., Oli, M., Foley, D.P., Huang, G., Hayes, R.L., Ottens, A.K., Wang, K.K.W. (2006) Identification and preliminary validation of novel biomarkers of acute hepatic ischemia/reperfusion injury using dual-platform proteomic/degradomic approaches. Biomarkers, 11: 355-369.